Nocturne for a Forest (2023)

The Carmelite monastery and the surrounding Buçaco Forest in Portugal were strictly out of bounds for women: “Those who enter will go to hell and burn for all eternity,” decreed Pope Gregory XV in 1622. Shortly thereafter, however, the monks had the opportunity to admire “Sagrada Família,” a painting of the infant Jesus and Mary, with milk flowing from her naked breast.
Although women were physically excluded, in the imagination of filmmaker Catarina Vasconcelos their spirits refused to be chased away. Invisible and inaudible, they still hide within these leafy woods, and engage in animated discussion. In this magical and poetic short film with a feel for irony, their presence is betrayed by a brightening of the leaves, while the onscreen text reveals the content of their conversation.
This exploration of experiences and dreams of the past soon takes a radically contemporary turn. Even Josefa de Óbidos, the creator of “Sagrada Família,” is called to account, in this creative fusion of fiction and documentary, political discourse and experimentation. A bounteous fountain of meaningful associations.
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