Pedro Costa’s film “Vitalina Varela” was voted the fourth best foreign language of the year by the National Society of Film Critics of the United, the organization announced on Saturday.
The announcement, which put “Vitalina Varela” behind the Romanian “Collective”, was made through the account, by Alexander Nanu, Brazilian “Bacurau”, Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dornells, and the Russian “Beanpole”, Kantimir Balgov. Organization’s Twitter account after the 55th annual awards meeting.
According to the vote, “Collective” got 38 points, while “Becaura” and “Beanpole” got ‘X Acepo’ with 36 points, followed by “Vitalina Varela” with 32 points.
Pedro Costa’s film was also ranked third in the Best Cinematography category, placing Director of Photography Leonardo Simes ahead of James Richards (“Nomadland”) and Shabear Kirchner (“Lacey Rock Rock”).
“Nomadland “, By Chloe Zhao, was the big winner of these awards, which also won the categories of Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress, crediting Frances MacDormand.
According to the Critics Society, the process was organized by a weighted voting system, in which participants voted on their three choices for each category (three points for the first choice, two for the second, and one for the third). “The candidate with the highest marks and who appears on the most ballot paper wins”, explained the society.
The Portuguese nominee for an Oscar nomination for Best International Film, “Vitalina Varela”, had its world premiere in August 2019 at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where she won the main award: Golden Leopard and Leopard for Best Female Interpretation.
Since then, it has featured and received numerous awards at several international film festivals, in addition to appearing on several lists of the year’s best. Specialized publication Variety placed him on the 19th day, a list of potential Oscar nominees for Best International Film.
Pedro Costa met Vitalina Varela while he was driving “Cavallo Dinhiro”, the story includes part of his story that gave him prominence in the next film.
The narrative centers on a Cape Word woman who, after waiting for an airplane ticket for 25 years, arrives in Portugal three days after her husband’s death.
In Locarno, Pedro Costa explained that the films about the Cape Verdian community are not documentaries: “We’re doing something more epic”, based on a relationship that has existed for 25 years.
“I speak of people who live in oblivion today, sleep on the streets, suffer torture. Cinema can protect them, in a way, the changed part of this situation, because it can be shown anywhere, ”he said.
