Colonialism…In many quarters, it’s a ‘dirty’ word. It’s the given term to the unwanted ties to bits and bobs that remind one of a past that one is taught in schools and other institutions to forget. More often than not, it is the unlearning of the learnt, the forgotten of the memorised that is passed down across generations by word of mouth. Take the rebranding of Victoria Terminus to Chattrapathi Shivaji Terminus, or better yet, closer to home, Vasco da Gama to Shambhaji Nagar. Let’s forget that the coveted sea route to Asia (and India in particular), which was much sought after by all of Europe, was primarily centered around Vasco da Gama and his work linked to the ‘descobrimentos’ or maritime discoveries.
On the flip-side of this equation, there are many that celebrate the linkage and bonds that are fostered by the colonial era, for this can but naturally give rise to a whole new culture; one which is perhaps the best of both worlds of the both sides of the merger. Fernando Vendrell is one such example. An acclaimed Director from Portugal’s cinematic industry, Fernando is currently in Goa as his film, ‘Skin’ (or Pele, in Portuguese) was selected to be the feature that opened the Seventh Lusophone Film Festival being held at Maquinez Palace in Panjim.
However, that alone is not what makes Fernando interesting. His roots find their way inextricably planted in Goan soil. Though he remains sketchy on too much detail, he knows that his grandmother born in Goa in 1888 and that his grandfather was stationed in Goa with Banco Nacional Ultramarino across colonies, including Goa. Eventually, Fernando’s mother would come to be born in Goa in 1930.
However, with all this linkage to various other parts of the world, Fernando never truly felt comfortable in his (dare we pun) skin. There was always something missing. “I always felt a kind of internal struggle, while trying to fit in. I felt ‘different’, like I was set apart from my contemporaries. Not in a snobbish or superior way, but as though I belonged to a different background. Maybe that is why I relate to my movie ‘Skin’,” he says.
He eventually went on to study film at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema de Lisboa and his biggest moment of acclaim was the production of Fernando Trueba’s, Belle Epoque which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture in 1994.
He was assistant director on a project in the nascent stages of his career, leading him to Cabo Verde, when he would find himself in a café, looking at many of the locals decked in sporting attire that was native to Portuguese football. That moment led to him working on his first-ever feature film in Cabo Verde. “I was so moved by the fact that the population there was so keen to be the next Eusebio, to move to Portugal, all with a drive to form a linkage with past glory, and a shared connection, that it just seemed to be the right way to make things work for me,” he says.
The success of his first foray into film and Africa, led to a follow-up in Mozambique, titled O Gotejar da Luz, which told the tale of the plight of the settlement of Bué Maria on the Pungwe River, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala. “The making of that film required much research, and has involved one of the most moving tales of my entire career. I had to sit down with many of the natives, and ask them to relive a past that many would rather choose to forget. At the end of it all, they realised that all I was trying to do was to be their voice, and tell their tale, and one person stood up and said, ‘You are not as white as the whites that were here before you. We will help you.’ That, for me, was a defining moment,” he says.
Now having completed his seventh project, a look back at his career indicates that only one film of the native of Portugal has been shot in his home country. This has in turn, led to his reputation as being a maker of African film. The feature shot in Lisbon is the very film being screened in Goa, ‘Skin’ and has been inspired by the work of Henrique Galvão, who worked tirelessly against the fascist government, which led to his eventual imprisonment.
However, as a colonial film-making specialist, the ‘but natural’ query would be that which questions when his work surrounding a Goa-connect could be expected. Fernando replies coyly, saying “There was a plan to work on a film that focused on a story of a crime that had taken place in Goa in the mid-1990s. For a host of reasons, including funding, this did not work out. However, to be fair, that has in turn spurred my desire to work on a story that explores the position of the woman in Goa.”
However, Fernando does share that a film, of which he is the co-producer and whose working title is ‘Goa’, has featured at IFFI, and is in stages of absolute completion. The film, directed by Jaime Mateus Tique is one which focuses on a post-colonial tryst of a soldier faced with a state of internal flux.
Whether the filmmaking story-teller takes his work further east than his African comfort zone remains to be seen. But one thing remains certain, that Fernando Vendrell loves the colonies and the tales that make their people unique. As such, it must only be a matter of time before he puts Goa on a Portuguese cinematic map.
