We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful André Almeida Rodrigues. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with André below.
André, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
Yes! I am happy as a filmmaker and also as a SAP consultant at Inetum. So I have a regular job. There is time for everything! It’s a question of time management. This need for a regular job arises because in Portugal we don’t live off art alone. But I like to work as SAP consultant. After working 8 hours a day as a SAP consultant I dedicate time to the Moinho Cine Fest, an international film festival organized by ANARTEM – Cultural Association that I created in 2019 and in April it will be its 6th edition. To give you an idea, the 6th edition began to be prepared in May 2023 and we received 656 films from 50 countries in a total of 138:09:51 (hh:mm:ss). I watch all the films that have been submitted to the Moinho Cine Fest that comply with the regulations. Moinho Cine Fest differs from most festivals in that it pays a screening fee to the films in competition and also a prize money.
Apart from the Moinho Cine Fest, in my spare time I work in my films which I also distribute. At the moment I have the short documentary “Return to the childhood home before the last farewell” screened all over the world. Up to today the film has been distinguished with 4 Honorable Mentions and has had 25 screenings in 16 countries. For example, the film was selected to Fantasporto – Porto International Film Festival, Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival and ACAMPADOC. “Return to the childhood home before the last farewell” is a visit to my childhood home in its current condition as a ruin. The portrait of a Portugal from the past, filled with nostalgia and memory. You can see the trailer in:
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a Portuguese filmmaker from Leça do Balio. It’s a town in Matosinhos municipality and located in the suburbs of Porto, the 2nd biggest city in Portugal. Leça do Balio is known in Portuguese history for being the only place where there was a Portuguese royal wedding outside the capital. D. Fernando, King of Portugal, eloped with Leonor de Teles and they were married in the Leça do Balio Monastery in 1372. I finished a Master’s degree in Sound and Image at the Portuguese Catholic University in 2016. Up to today, most of my films have been short documentaries produced without a budget and with a smartphone. It wasn’t until the end of 2022 that I bought a professional video camera and I hope to shoot my next film with this camera this year.
What I’m most proud of is my persistence. The fact that I didn’t have any money or professional equipment didn’t stop me from making my films, which have won awards and have been screened all over the world. Soft skills are more important than technical equipment.
Moinho Cine Fest was also born out of this persistence. I felt it was necessary to create another festival so that other filmmakers could have another opportunity to screen their films. And I also felt it was necessary to bring films to the citizens of Matosinhos. In Matosinhos we only have regular films in the cinemas of shopping malls.
More information about my films on:
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In 2019 I gave an interview to Jornal de Notícias, a newspaper from Porto with national distribution. One Sunday the paper hit the newsstands. And the next day I received a call from the producers of “O Programa da Cristina”, one of Portugal’s two highest-rated morning TV shows, informing me that Cristina Ferreira, the presenter, wanted to meet me because I made films without a budget and only with my smartphone. A few days later I went to Lisbon to talk about my work in the tv show “O Programa da Cristina”.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
At the Moinho Cine Fest I set a screening fee for the films in competition. The payment of a screening fee by festivals is a rare thing around the world. The amount I have set is 0.05 EUR per second without credit. Which means, for example, the maximum value of screening fee per film is:
Medium Film (films up to 60 minutes): 180,00 EUR
Short Film (films up to 30 minutes): 90,00 EUR
Micro Film (films up to 5 minutes): 15,00 EUR
Nano Film (films up to 60 seconds): 3,00 EUR
It doesn’t seem like much. But if all the festivals did the same, I believe filmmakers would raise money to produce their next film. All films have production costs. For example, transportation to the shooting location.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andrealmeidarodrigues.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrealmeidarodriguespt
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrealmeidarodriguespt
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrealmeidarodriguespt/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrealmeidapt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrealmeidarodriguespt
Image Credits
The Additional Photos are stills from the film “Return to the childhood home before the last farewell ”
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