Francisca

It is a restored version of 'Francisca', a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Agustina Bessa-Luís. It is directed by the Portuguese Manoel de Oliveira, considered the most prestigious director of his country and the most internationally known.

It tells a real story of the writer Camilo Castelo Branco, who fell in love with a girl of English origin, Fanny Owen (Francisca), who in turn falls in love with a companion, friend and rival of the writer, José Augusto.

The film was released in 1981, participating in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs de Cannes and is one of Oliveira?s most distinguished films. The copy presented has its origin in the 4K digitisation of the 35mm camera negative preserved by the Cinemateca Portuguesa. According to The Film Stage: " 'Francisca' is one of the greatest films about wasted time, even as it wastes not a single second of ours". For its part, the Chicago Reader says: "The baroque plot is presented in a series of single-take tableaux, which do not attempt to embody the drama as much as allude to it, leaving the dense and passionate feelings to take shape entirely in the spectator?s mind. Oliveira limits himself to showing only what can truly be shown: not the story but a representation of the story, not the emotions but their material manifestations as they have crossed the decades. A masterpiece of the modern cinema, difficult but extremely rewarding."