Water to Tabato

Paulo Carneiro / Guinea-Bissau, Portugal / 2014 / International Premiere / 45 min.

synopsis

In mid-summer 2011, Paulo Carneiro and set out as assistant director for a film crew working on a project on the west African coast. There he unexpectedly ended up shooting his own film, a documentary report about a sinking ship near the coast of Guinea-Bissau on which he was a passenger. The digital camera records the growing panic on the ship after it has gotten stuck in the ocean in an oppressive nighttime atmosphere. In shaky interview footage, we see passengers move from an initial apathy to nervous anxiety, and from there fluidly to a fear for their lives. The growing tension on board is reflected in the film’s ever quickening tempo.

DETAIL:
Call somebody to pick up us. Please take us out of there. - What’s goin’ on? - Please take us out of here. - There’s nobody there that can save us. We are all passengers.

biography

The 24-year-old Lisbon native began as a film editor and cinematographer before working as assistant director on the films of João Viana – for instance, The Battle of Tabato (2013), which won an award in cinematic debut category at last year’s festival in Berlin. Carneiro’s first short documentary film, Oh Johny (2012), was premiered at the MedFilm Festival in Rome and has won several international awards.