Interview with Fernando Vendrell

Abstract

Portuguese Studies vol. 34 no. 2 (2018), 221–36© Modern Humanities Research Association 2018 Interview with Fernando Vendrell1 Ellen W. Sapega University of Wisconsin–Madison Ellen W. Sapega: Directing and producing films might seem like the job of one’s dreams, but in reality it can be very risky and frustrating. Can you tell us how you first got started, what motivated you, and what sustains you in doing the work you do? Fernando Vendrell: It’s difficult to say how or why I got into cinema. There were some personal moments tied to my childhood and adolescence. What impressed me the most, besides the films I’d seen as a child, happened in the context of the 25th of April, when there was a moment of great liberation. Eisenstein’s films were finally shown and I remember watching Battleship Potemkin at the Cine Império. The film made a strong impression on me, an impression I couldn’t explain. Later, in another context, when my high school was occupied as part of the student revolution, there was a cine club associated with the far left, with the MRPP [Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado (Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat)], that showed Eisenstein’s October in an improvised cinema that was a classroom. I was quite young, twelve or thirteen years old, I’d just started high school, and this moment stands out for me. Also, the Cinemateca was near where I lived and after the revolution it started to show recent Portuguese films from the 1980s; that’s where I saw Trás-os-Montes, by António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro. It was the film’s first Lisbon showing and both directors were present to talk with the viewers. I became a regular at the Cinemateca, I watched classic films at the Cinemateca, at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, and on TV. After a brief failure at school, I applied to the Escola de Cinema do Conservatório Nacional (present Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema), where I met António Reis — he was my teacher — and we analysed some of the films I’d already seen in new contexts, discussing editing, aesthetics, etc. And that’s how I became a director. First a producer, then a director. I worked in the profession and, during the ’80s, after finishing my first degree in film school where I studied editing, I worked as director’s assistant and script supervisor [anotador], then as a production manager and executive producer. 1 This interview took place in Lisbon on 29 June 2017. It has been edited and translated into English. I would like to thank Logan Krishka for his help with the transcription. Ellen W. Sapega 222 The profession in Portugal is very unstable, in fact... it’s very unpredictable. I’ve been fortunate to continue to work more freely as both a producer and a director. If I’d only been a director, my situation would be more difficult. My work as a director constitutes a small part of the production company that I opened in 1992 (twenty-five years ago) with a very simple goal. My film school colleagues and I had finished school and we began working in the profession; we wanted to complete projects but the projects never came to fruition. So we formed the production company. We’ve had ups and downs but it’s always been a creative journey. At the start I produced theatre but after a while there wasn’t any more space for theatre and I dedicated myself to film and television. In fact, television production provides the company with stability, given the scarcity of subsidies or state support in Portugal right now, support that determines a director’s work. Production work is much steadier. EWS: Speaking of influences, could you tell us about some works that influenced you, whether they are other film directors, specific works of art, or books? FV: While I wouldn’t call them influences, several directors’ works have been significant. Eisenstein is a striking director for technical reasons, for the expressive transformations he introduced. I’ve always been a great fan of silent film and...