Fragile Worlds
Filmmaker Rita Azevedo Gomes
Surging ocean waves, misty forest paths, torchlight dancing in the wind, doors and windows opening up sweeping views into the distance; plus dense, literary monologues and dialogues, and narratives interwoven in space and time. For over 35 years, Portuguese director Rita Azevedo Gomes has been making films that speak their own unique language, creating cinematic spaces that are equally imbued with thought and emotion. They are characterized by the melancholic sensibility of their characters, who often suffer from the limitations imposed on them by the world. And so irritating moments of unrest creep into the delicately composed images and sounds, in which reality and desire, dream and waking states, art and life can no longer be separated and become intertwined. It is cinema in the tradition of Romanticism, a cinema of soulscapes – and one of intense visual and auditory expression.
After studying fine arts and participating in theater and opera projects, Azevedo Gomes began her film career as an assistant director to Luis Noronha da Costa and costume designer for Francisca (1981), a classic by legendary Portuguese director Manuel de Oliveira. This was followed in 1990 by her directorial debut, O Som da Terra a Tremer, which, like her oeuvre of ten feature films and documentaries, is based on literary texts. At the same time, O Som da Terra a Tremer is Azevedo Gomes' first collaboration with the influential cinematographer Acácio de Almeida, who has also photographed works by João César Monteiro, Teresa Villaverde, and Pedro Costa. Equally a master of natural light captured on analog film and detailed digital tableaux, Acácio de Almeida, under Azevedo Gomes' direction, succeeds in creating images that are extremely sensitive to light and color, often resembling paintings. Gomes' companions, such as his favorite actors Rita Durão and Pierre Léon, wander through these images. They enter timeless, otherworldly film worlds. These are chamber plays that show us an interior, hardly ever an exterior.
Curated by Tilman Schumacher and produced in collaboration with the Cinemateca Portuguesa, the retrospective Fragile Worlds – Filmmaker Rita Azevedo Gomes presents almost the entire oeuvre of the Portuguese filmmaker for the first time in Germany. It is accompanied by a program of German film productions compiled by Rita Azevedo Gomes. The carte blanche brings together works that have influenced her work and to which she feels close. We are delighted to welcome Rita Azevedo Gomes as a guest on the opening weekend from May 29 to 31, 2026. (Tilman Schumacher)
