Apr 24th 2020

From April 24 – 30, the Gene Siskel Film Center is proud to present VITALINA VARELA (streaming). Visit our website for more info: https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/vitalina-varela

One of the most critically acclaimed releases of the year, the latest from Portuguese director Pedro Costa returns to the sprawling back alleys and shantytowns of Lisbon that he has been documenting for a quarter of a century to tell the story of Vitalina Varela, the bewitching nonprofessional costar of Costa’s last feature HORSE MONEY. Separated from her husband for decades, Vitalina journeys from her home in Cape Verde to Lisbon for a long-delayed reunion, only to be met with news of his demise just days before her arrival. Moving into the crumbling house he left behind, Vitalina endeavors to make a new life in Portugal, finding tenuous solidarity within a fragmented, impoverished immigrant community (in particular, with an anguished priest played by frequent Costa collaborator Ventura) while mourning a man she realizes she barely knew. A preternaturally gifted image-maker, Costa films these formative incidents in Vitalina’s life with characteristic sensitivity, evoking all of the agony and beauty to be found in her perseverance through grief. In Cape Verdean Creole and Portuguese with English subtitles. DCP digital.

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