Swans

A father and his teenage son travel to Berlin. The boy has never met his mother who is in hospital with a koma. The father is confronted by his uncertain past. Both are unsettled by the winter gloom in the unfamiliar big city, and by the hostile environment of the hospital. The mother's flat where both are lodging is equally unwelcoming. They meet a mysterious and beautiful woman there, the mother's flat mate. While the boy explores the city, the father waits for the mother to recover. The film evokes an atmosphere oscillating between desire and anonymity, the fear of personal proximity and of death, between boredom and physical excess on a skateboard. It presents an unusual impression of Berlin, involving a fascinating coming-of-age story and of facing up to old age. It is a haunting exploration of the many facets of love and desire.

Director

Born 1974 in Oporto, Portugal. After studying law at the Catholic university in Oporto from 1992 to 1995, Hugo Vieira da Silva graduated from the Lisbon School Of Theatre and Cinema (ESTC) in 1999. His graduation documentary ARTE PÚBLICA was awarded with the Kodak Prize for Best Portuguese Documentary film 1998. His following documentaries GRUPO PUZZLE and CONFESSO were screened and curated in several international contemporary art institutions and galleries. After receiving the Nipkow Grant fellowship programme 2003 he moved to Berlin. His first feature film BODY RICE, produced by Paulo Branco, won several awards, most notably: the Best Director category in Buenos Aires (Bafici-2007) and Mexico (Ficco-2007), a Special Mention of the official competition in Locarno 2006, Best Cinematography and Best Sound of the official section in Fortaleza (Brazil) 2007. Furthermore, the film was selected for more than 10 competitive international sections. SWANS is his second feature film. During development, the project was selected for L'atelier- Cannes film festival 2009, Binger Filmlab Script Development Programme and was awarded at the Torino FilmLab Development 2008. He was recently curatedselected for the book "The future of film-100 new directors" edited by Phaidon-New york, 2010. Hugo Vieira da Silva currently lives and works between Vienna and Berlin.

Filmography

2010: SWANS, 120 Min / Red, Produced by Flying Moon, Contracosta Produções
2006: BODY RICE, 120min / 35mm Produced by Paulo Branco
2003 CONFESSO (ALBUQUERQUE MENDES) (documentary) 52min /Digital
2001 GRUPO PUZZLE (documentary) 52min /Digital
1998 ARTE PÚBLICA (documentary) 30m / 16mm