The conference was attended by the directors of the festival, Deborah Pinho Mateus and Candela Varas as well as the Vice-President and Councilor of Culture of the Municipality of Faro, Paulo Jorge Neves dos Santos and the Regional Director of Culture of the Algarve, Adriana Nogueira.

At the press conference they announced that the new edition of the festival will be promoted by CineClube de Tavira as well as the Câmara Municipal of Faro. The third edition is planned for Spring 2022 having moved its epicenter to the city of Faro, with the aim of strengthening the relationship between cinema and literature throughout the Algarve, and will focus on pressing contemporary themes.

Transformation

After the success of the previous two editions of the International Cinema and Literature Festival of Olhão, (FICLO) of 2019 and 2020, the third edition has transformed into FICLA – a festival that will encompass the whole region of the Algarve and not just Olhão.

They have chosen this location because the municipality of Faro is really focusing on culture as well as the link between culture and the University of Faro, stated one of the festivals directors. Candela Varas said that “the festival is more ambitious than ever as it focuses on being involved with the community as well as growing internationally.” She also added that “the festival has had a tough journey because of the pandemic but it did not die and we would greatly appreciate the participation of the public in next year’s edition.”

The International Cinema and Literature event first began in 2019 and has been cementing its vision and importance in the Algarve as well as the national cultural fabric with programmes that feature everything from documentaries to fictions as well as animated films. Additionally, they have included as many activities as possible such as: performances, staged readings, script writing placements and seminars and workshops with directors or theatre directors.

Cinema and literature

The festival has always been characterised by not solely focusing on adaptations, but delving further into the relationship between cinema and literature. According to FICLA directors, Débora Pinho Mateus and Candela Varas: "From the beginning, the Film and Literature Festival has set itself up as, not just a festival of adaptations, but rather as a festival that wants to go further, looking for other links between both artistic practices, unexpected connections and specifically overcoming this relationship, in some form of interdependence, we will look at both artistic practices as well as what brings these two fields together and what sets them apart despite sharing common themes.”

To keep up to date with all the latest news about FICLA 2022 please see http://www.ficlo.pt/ and their Facebook page @festivalcinemaliteraturalgarve.

Author

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes