Hero (The)

  • Un héros (O herói)
Genre : Drama
Type : Fiction
Original title :
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv
Year of production : 2004
Format : Feature
Running time : 97 (in minutes)

At the age of 15, Vitorio had been recruited by force in the Angolese army. After having fought for twenty years, he had been demobilized. During one of his last missions, he stepped on a antipersonel mine and had to suffer a leg amputation. Having waited for months, he finally received a prosthesis.
Alone and pennyless, he had to wander on the streets of Luanda, in the search of a job. One night, while sleeping on the street, his prosthesis was stolen,,, as well as Vitorio's dreams of integration.

The Hero is the story of Angola, a nation torn apart by forty years of uninterrupted war. It is also the story of a city, Luanda, like so many in the developing world, trying to absorb the millions of people displaced by civil strife and global economic change.

The central character of the film, the hero of the title, is Vitório, who was pressed into service at the age of fifteen, and is now, twenty years later, desperately trying to rebuild his life and find love. Vitório has a prosthetic leg replacing the one he lost after stepping on a landmine just months before the end of the war. His struggle to piece back together his life echoes the struggle of the country at large.

A film by Zézé GAMBOA

Angola / France, 2004 | 1h37m | 35mm | Portuguese with English subtitles | Rating: 15

Produced by
François d'Artemare... co-producer
Catarina Fortes... executive producer
Tony Gamboa... co-producer
Fernando Vendrell... producer

Directed by
Zézé Gamboa

Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
Carla Baptista
Pierre-Marie Goulet
Fernando Vendrell

Music by David Linx & Diederik Wissels
Cinematography by Mario Masini
Film Editing by Anna Ruiz
Production Design by Lucha d'Orey
Costume Design by Lucha d'Orey
Ian Swann... key makeup artist
Paula Ribas... production manager
David-Pierre Fila... production manager
Nuno Milagre... first assistant director
Cesário Monteiro... poster design
Gita Cerveira... sound
François Fayard... sound editor
François Groult... re-recording mixer
Jean-Marc Mouligne... special effects
Mateus Salvador... stunt double
Luís Apura... gaffer
João Guerra... assistant camera
Rui Xavier... still photographer
Pascal Latil... assistant editor
Script and Continuity Department
Telmo Churro... script supervisor
Taylor Krauss... intern
Cesário Monteiro... graphic artist/poster

CAST (in credits order)
Oumar Makena Diop (AKA Makena Diop)... Vitorio
Milton'Santo' Coelho... Manu
Maria Ceiça... Maria Bárbara aka Judite
Patrícia Bull... Joana
Neusa Borges... Flora (as Neuza Borges)
Raúl Rosário
Prospero Joao
Orlando Sérgio... Minister
Fernando Lupach... (as Fernando Ferreira)
Catarina Matos... Rute
Miguel Hurst... Doctor Luís
Thierry Darrigrand... Doctor Thierry
Nelo Helder
Adelino Caracol
João Carlos Miguel
Mateus Salvador... Manu's Father

2005 | Sundance Film Festival
Won: the grand prize of the World Dramatic Competition.

2004 | 20ème session des Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage (Tunis, du 1er au 9 octobre 2004)
* Prix de la première oeuvre cinématographique (Best 1st Work Award)


___________________________________

Ele é um autêntico herói. Vinte anos de guerra permitiram-lhe obter uma medalha mas deixaram-no também sem uma perna. Nas ruas de Luanda, erra à procura de um emprego, passaporte indispensável para renascer na vida civil. No entanto, apesar da prótese que atenua a sua deficiência, só encontra desprezo, piedade e indiferença perante o seu voluntarismo nesta cidade confrontada com o afluxo dos refugiados e a muita penúria.

VO Português
2004 - Drama - 97 minutos
Prémio da Primeira Obra, Cartago (Tunisie), 2004
Melhor Filme Estrangeiro, Festival de Sundance, 2005
Prémio da Melhor Fotografia, Fespaco, 2005

Realização: Zézé Gamboa
Argumento: Carla Batista, Pierre-Marie Goulet
Com: Makena Diop, Milton Coelho, Patricia Bull, Neusa Borges
Fotografia: Mario Masini
Música: David Linx, Diederik Wissels
Produção: Les Films de l'Après Midi (França), Gamboa & Gamboa (Angola), David & Golias (Portugal)

Zézé Gamboa nasceu em Luanda em 1955. Trabalhou para a televisão angolana de 1974 até 1980, ano em que deixa Angola para ir para França e, depois, Portugal. Volta ao seu país de origem nos anos 90 e dedica-se aos documentários: "Mopiopio" e "Breath of Angola" em 1991, "Dissidência" (1998), "Burned by Blue" e "O Desassossego de Pessoa" em 1999. A história atribulada de Angola é a fonte de inspiração do realizador. "O Herói" é o seu primeiro filme de ficção. A ideia do filme surgiu em 1992, quando descobriu a foto de um veterano angolano a dormir na rua. Foi preciso esperar mais dez anos e o fim da guerra civil em Angola para poder rodar o filme.

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