Ala-Arriba! is a 1942

1942 in film

The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...

 Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 romantic docufiction

Docufiction

Docufiction is a neologism which refers to the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction. More precisely, it is a documentary contaminated with fictional elements, in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which someone - the character - plays his own role in real life...

 set in Póvoa de Varzim

Póvoa de Varzim

Póvoa de Varzim is a Portuguese city in the Norte Region and sub-region of Greater Porto, with a 2011 estimated population of 63,364. According to the 2001 census, there were 63,470 inhabitants with 42,396 living in the city proper. The urban area expanded, southwards, to Vila do Conde, and there...

, a traditional Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 fishing town.

Dealing with ethnographic matters, it may be considered as an ethnofiction

Ethnofiction

Ethnofiction is a neologism which refers to an ethnographic docufiction sub-genre, a blend of documentary and fiction film in the area of visual anthropology. It is a film style in which the portrayed characters play their own roles as members of an ethnic or social group.Jean Rouch is considered...

. The film was directed by Leitão de Barros

José Leitão de Barros

José Leitão de Barros was a Portuguese film director and playwright.Among his most famous films are Maria do Mar , the second docufiction after ...

, and stars real fishermen as themselves in order to give a realistic view over traditions and social behaviours of the community. Focusing the cultural context, it continuously shifts from documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 to drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

, by means of a fictional narrative. Contemporary to Robert Flaherty, Barros is with him one of the first filmmakers to explore docufiction

Docufiction

Docufiction is a neologism which refers to the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction. More precisely, it is a documentary contaminated with fictional elements, in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which someone - the character - plays his own role in real life...

 and ethnofiction

Ethnofiction

Ethnofiction is a neologism which refers to an ethnographic docufiction sub-genre, a blend of documentary and fiction film in the area of visual anthropology. It is a film style in which the portrayed characters play their own roles as members of an ethnic or social group.Jean Rouch is considered...

 as forms of dramatic narrative.

It premiered

Premiere

A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...

 at São Luis Theatre in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

.

Synopsis

It focuses on maritime tragedy of the town and a forbidden love between Julha (Elsa Bela-Flor) and João Moço (Domingos Gonçalves), from different fisher castes, in a community where mixed-caste marriages were not allowed and dating without parent's assent was seen as a disgrace to the family, not only in respect to women, but also men.

Historical background

The script of Ala-Arriba! was written by the prestigious Alfredo Cortez, based on the book O Poveiro by António dos Santos Graça

António dos Santos Graça

António dos Santos Graça was a Portuguese ethnologist, journalist and politician notable for the study and preservation of Poveiro culture, history, and folklore...

, focusing the cultural aspects of the town.

The film was financed by SPN (Secretariado da Propaganda Nacional – National Propaganda Bureau) of the Ministério das Obras Públicas (Ministry of Public Works) during the Estado Novo period. The town was seen, by the regime, as an example of Portuguese culture.

Festivals

• Venice Film Festival
  Venice Film Festival
  The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
  
  - Award The Biennale Cup (1942)

NOTE: Ala-Arriba! was the first Portuguese film to win at this festival an international award