O Pássaro da Noite

In the latest of her series of portraits of legendary underground performers, Marie Losier takes us into the world of Fernando, aka Deborah Krystal, the glittering and poetic performer of the Lisbon club Finalmente. Over the last thirty years, Fernando has been performing every night at Finalmente, dressed in golden gowns. O Pássaro da Noite reveals the many skins of Fernando that lay underneath the layers of his colorful fabrics, and – with the help of a large cast of friends and filmmaking colleagues – lets Lisbon’s legends come to life. Alternating and shape shifting between manifestations as mermaid, bird, and lion, Fernando takes us on a journey into the desires and dreams of metamorphosis and myth: From the bright sunlight of a colorful beach to the haunted shadows of a museum at night.

details

  • Runtime

    20 min
  • Country

    Portugal, France
  • Year of Presentation

    2016
  • Year of Production

    2015
  • Director

    Marie Losier
  • Cast

    Fernando Santos, Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Cindy Scrash, Alda Cabrita
  • Production Company

    Indie Lisboa
  • Berlinale Section

    Forum
  • Berlinale Category

Biography Marie Losier

Marie Losier, born in 1972 in France, is a filmmaker based in New York. She first studied literature at the University of Nanterre, France, and then Fine Arts in New York City, where she also worked as a film curator. Marie Losier has made a number of film portraits of avant- garde directors, musicians, and composers, such as Mike and George Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Richard Foreman, and Tony Conrad. She has also performed in films by George Kuchar, Mike Kuchar, and Jackie Raynal, and in plays by Juliana Francis and Tony Torn. Currently she's working on a new film about Cassandro. Her films and videos have been shown at museums, galleries, biennials, and festivals.

Filmography Marie Losier

2008 Papal Broken Dance | 2012 Byun, Found and Object | 2014 Alan Vega - Just a Million Dreams

Biography Joao Pedro Rodrigues

João Pedro Rodrigues (* 1966 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese film director. After a discontinued study of ornithology, he began his studies at the Lisbon Film Academy in 1985 and graduated in 1989. After assisting other directors such as Alberto Seixas Santos and Teresa Villaverde, he made his first short film, O Pastor ("The Shepherd"), in 1988. His following short film Parabéns ("Congratulations") received a special mention at the 54th Venice Film Festival. In 1998 he shot Viagem à Expo for Expo 98, the world exhibition in Lisbon.
In 2000 his first feature-length film was shown in Venice and attracted international criticism. Subsequently, O Fantasma received further awards, including two main prizes for best film (in Belfort and New York). After his second feature Two Drifters (orig.: Odete) in 2005, he shot To Die Like a Man (orig.: Morrer Como um Homem), which premiered in 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival in the category Un Certain Regard. The author Carlos Castro accused Rodrigues of using his novel Ruth Bryden as a model for the film. His film A Última Vez Que Vi Macau ("When I Last Saw Macau") was released in 2012.
For his film O Ornitólogo he was awarded the Leopard for Best Director at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2016.
source: wikipedia.org