DOWN TO EARTH (CASA DE LAVA), 1994

Portugal, France, Germany | DCP, Color, 110’ | Portuguese
Director: Pedro Costa
Cast: Inês de Medeiros, Isaach De Bankolé, Edith

Although Costa tells the stories of Cape Verdean people, House of Lava is the only film he shot there. The film revisits Jacques Tourneur’s classic I Walked with a Zombie through the lens of Portugal’s colonial past. After a work accident leaves Leão in a coma in Lisbon, nurse Mariana escorts him back to his homeland. On this volcanic island covered with black sands, she searches for traces of the man’s life, confronting a landscape that is both mysterious and unsettling. With its striking faces, island music, and powerful visual language, the film marks a turning point in Costa’s career.

October 16, 15.00
October 19, 13.00