"Throwback Thursday" -- by guest poster, Domique

(Note from Sara: Today's "Throwback Thursday" post comes from our friend Domique, aka @hazeleyez79_DRW, so please show her some love over on Twitter or in the comments section here.  Thanks, Sara)

(Image courtesy of A Parideira's Facebook Page)

Hello everyone.  It’s Domique (@hazeleyez79_DRW on twitter) again.  I hope everyone is having a fantastic day today.  Today Sara has afforded me the pleasure of presenting “Throwback Thursday” on the blog.   

Today, I throwback to 2011.  Specifically to: "A Parideira" ("The Breeder") is a 20-minute Portuguese short film by José Miguel Moreira starring Diogo, Ana Moreira, and José Pinto.   This film is about the journey of a young couple and their inability to conceive.  Filmed in Portugal, it was released in March of 2011. 

As the story goes, there is a miraculous cave called the Breeder (a Parideira).  The cave, which is guarded by a mysterious old pastor (José Pinto), is located somewhere on top of a mountain range.  Legend has it that if an infertile woman enters the cave, she will leave the cave already pregnant.  However, the downside to this is that, in order for such a miracle to happen, one person has to stay back and sacrifice their life in the cave that same night.   

Margarida (Ana Moreira) and her husband, Tiago (Diogo), are a young couple who have been trying to get pregnant without success.  On the brink of hopelessness, this yearning motivates Margarida to return to her roots with her husband and as a last alternative, enter this cave to try to get pregnant.  Unbeknownst to the couple, the pastor has a sinister plan in store for them. 

Below is the trailer for "A Parideira."

video courtesy of Vasco Josué/YouTube)

(Click the "Read More" link below to read the rest....)

And here are some behind the scenes videos of the film, courtesy of Vimeo, followed by translations from our own wonderful Portuguese ambassador and dear friend Liliana:

"A PARIDEIRA - Os bastidores" - parte 1 from A Parideira on Vimeo.

3rd day of shooting at Parque Natural de Montesinho – Soutelo – 26 April 2010:

"The legend says that a woman can only get pregnant at A Parideira if one adult dies there in the same night.
Tiago: Ohh Guida… Don´t die please… Parideiraaaa! Parideiraaa!
Vasco Josué (Producer) – A long hard trip, that began half a year ago. It´s always hard to get here, - we knew that – but it was harder than that, so it makes us even happier, the route was winding, so today being here with many debts, but no rain, as a special flavor. We how much to those who cooperate and are not here now. 
José Miguel Moreira (Director/Writer): I think that the proverb “one for all and all for one” never made more sense…  The movie talks about a initiatory journey, the characters have to evolve, overcome difficulties and there’s is a analogy between the movie and what happened to us, here.  We overcome difficulties, now we feel better as professionals and as human beings." 


"A Parideira - Os bastidores" - parte 2 from A Parideira on Vimeo.

THE MOTIVATION
"Diogo Morgado: First there was a phone call (laughs), it was Vasco that called me and said something like ‘We have a great script here, and you were our first choice’. For me, that gives a interesting dynamic to the invitation!
(Diogo and the team rehearse the scene.)
Ana Moreira: At first it was the script. I liked the story, thought it was well written, next I talked with José, and I felt all the will and strength they were putting into this project, and also the fact that I could work with a actor that I hadn’t before, we are from the same generation, he is Diogo Morgado, and the pleasure of working again with José Pinto.
José Pinto: Look son, at the beginning I didn´t want to believe that they would be able to do a short film with the script they sent me. I was very happy, I got enthusiastic when I read the script.  And when Vasco told me he invited Diogo Morgado and Ana Moreira, I just laughed… But as the work evolved, the contacts, the talk with Diogo Morgado, I got the conclusion that it was possible. "


"A Parideira - Os bastidores" - parte 3 from A Parideira on Vimeo.

THE ACTORS
José Miguel Moreira: We have to give our word of appreciation to the actors, because they give a voice and a figure to this film. They are 3 amazing actors, Diogo, Ana and José Pinto.
Vasco Josué: It was good, José Pinto is older, and he is a reference as a human being, right? Because he gives a humanity lesson, takes the direction in a natural way and added something when he felt like it.
José Miguel Moreira: We had this boldness of having this 3 actors,  nad where subject to their professional accuracy. 
Ana Moreira: I didn’t knew Diogo, but our will to get together, and share our work, our experiences, it was good, it went really well, and the will came from both parts. José is a very experienced actor, an icon to my generation, and it was good to feel is energy and dynamics and can act with him. 
Diogo Morgado: José Pinto, well the only thing I can say about him, is that when I get older, I want to be like him. Basically he is a gentleman.  
(They talk on the set: José Pinto plays with the knife and Diogo says: Oh really? I have to say it to my mom… “So Diogo how was it to work with José Pinto, is he cool?” And I say: “Threatened me with a knife, put me on my knees, and I ran like hell!”)
Diogo Morgado: Ana, I have an admiration for her, I think she is an amazing actress, I didn’t know her and I found out she is a amazing actress and an amazing person, a great human being, it was a privilege.
José Pinto: I knew them, with Diogo Morgado it was a short scene we did, but since that day we became friends, I don’t know why, there was an attraction between us as actors.  Ana Moreira I met at Fascínio from José Fonseca e Costa as she played my granddaughter, and I was very impressed with her talent. I am happy we get to work together again.



"A Parideira - Os bastidores" - parte 4 from A Parideira on Vimeo.

THE PLACES 
Arlindo Cid (assistant director): In this place we have seen almost everything. We saw cold, snow, rain, mud… 
Diogo Morgado: Many times it happens that we are looking at a script on paper and it is so different. Here we are inside the spirit of what is written. We all agree about that. The set here is almost like a 4th character, this place makes possible to believe in this mysticism, there are such remote places that they seem to have their own energy. 
José Pinto: The cave is going to be a hit on the film! It´s a cave! It´s a cave… but not one of those where the actors go well dressed… there was mud all over, water droplets all over, but it was worth it, it was worth it… 


"A Parideira - Os bastidores" - parte 5 from A Parideira on Vimeo.

THE SCRIPT AND THE CHARACTERS
Diogo Morgado: What I like about the script is that mix between popular Portuguese legends, the genuine delineation of Portuguese people, with a little suspense, a little thriller, the mystique side, and at the same time something that is common to many families, the will of having a baby and not being able to. 
Ana Moreira: It talks about believing in the last chances. Hold on to the last hope.
Diogo Morgado: Based on a legend that says that there is this cave, and someone or some entity that makes a woman who is unable to have babies, if she spends the night at the cave gets out of there pregnant.  Ana is Margarida, the believer, that has a background, because she supposedly was born based at this legend, her mother believed at A Parideira, she went there and she was born. She is desperate and we get into her past story too… 
Ana Moreira: She has her husband who is more skeptical, not very attached to nature and there is a conflict there. 
Diogo Morago: Tiago represents the skeptic part here, the rational side of the story. He gets here upset but for the love of is wife, and frustrated for not being able to realize this dream, that I think is from both of them…. He submits.   That is my character, the skeptic that thought the events undergoes some changes. What happens at A Parideira impacts a t the most rational side of Tiago. 
Ana Moreira: The old man, makes the bridge between the two of them and at the same exists by himself. 
Diogo Morgado: He validates the legend, takes us to the cave, he explains out it works – for someone being born, someone else as to die, and the conflict begins. 
José Pinto: When I read the script, I started thinking about this old man, how would it be… this old man from the mountains, this guide… of people and woman that believe in the Parideira’s legend. (…) I would change my paycheck for this Christ, it´s wonderful, and this wand gave me such security, a personality to this old man, absolutely amazing! It helped me a lot to build the character.


"A Parideira - Os bastidores" - parte 6 from A Parideira on Vimeo.
  
THE TEAM

We have to talk about the fireman… (they talk to them saying to keep the material)… they were a precious help!
We got to do something audacious and with a small team. We can see it being made with a larger team… but we managed to do this with a small one. We could only slept 3 hours a day… 
Diogo Morgado: At the beginning there was too much adversity, but they chose to take the bull by the horns… It was hard inside the cave… But it was a nice surprise that in such a small time, at the second day, we felt like a resourcefulness and organization. Yes, we started as students and ended like pros, no doubt of that!
Ana Moreira: It was hard. The conditions at the cave were hard for everyone. And we learn in this job how to be resistant and patient too. Made me go back like ten years, when there was still a little delicacy on set between all the team. There was still concern, a will to do it, not just to finish and go home.   They all embedded very well in each role,  in term of technical issues, everyone is a piece from a puzzle that only gets done if  the pieces all fix together.  This happened here. 
José Pinto: I would not name all of them, because I could forget one and it would hurt me inside. They would’t deserve that, they were all exceptional!
Ana Moreira: Every day after work, lunch or dinner were always good moments when we talked about what we did, we said anecdotes, nonsense… just relaxing…
José Miguel Moreira: Now! Let’s hear some words from our great sound operator – Diogo Manso! (They laugh and joke at Diogo Manso) What did you like the most?
Diogo Manso: I just listen… do not know how to speak!  A guy gets a commitment here, and well, it’s done! (Did you like the holidays?) I owe days to the company… but it had to be!
(Well we got to know the weight of the net, the price… they joke with each other.)
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Obrigada Liliana for doing such a wonderful job translating.  Eu realmente aprecio isso do fundo do meu coração. Deus os abençoe. Beijos.

Thanks for reading,
Domique (@hazeleyez79_DRW)
____________

(Thanks Domique!  Great job!  Xoxo, Sara)

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