It has been fourteen years since a film by a Portuguese director was selected for the Official Competition at the Venice Film Festival; A Herdade, by Tiago Guedes, produced by Paulo Branco (a Leopardo Filmes production, financially supported by RTP and ICA) marks the Official Selection in Competion of this year’s 76th edition.

This project, an original idea by Paulo Branco, started eight years ago. The script was written by Rui Cardoso Martins and Tiago Guedes (with the participation of Gilles Taurand). Film editing was made by Roberto Perpignani, who worked with Orson Welles, Bernardo Bertolucci, the Taviani brothers, among others, and was also the editor of the legendary Torre Bela, by Thomas Harlan, with cinematography by João Lança Morais.

A Herdade is the chronicle of a family and a charismatic landowner (a kind of “anarchist and progressive prince bigger than life”), João Fernandes (played by Albano Jerónimo), who owns one of the greatest estates in Europe, in the southern shore of the Tagus river. It is a grand fresco of Portugal in the second half of the XX century, an epic with strong, intense and enigmatic characters, with great performances by Albano Jerónimo, Sandra Faleiro, Miguel Borges, João Vicente, and the young actors and actress João Pedro Mamede, Rodrigo Tomás and Beatriz Brás, amongst an exceptional cast.

It was announced, earlier this week, that A Herdade was also selected as part of the Official Selection of Toronto Film Festival, in its most relevant section, Special Presentations, which must be highlighted as an important fact, seeing that the films presented on both festivals are the greatest films of the year, starting then their international career and, sometimes, their way to the Oscars. Leopardo Filmes is very proud to be part of this line-up of excellence.

A Herdade will have its Portuguese theatrical release on September 19th.

www.aherdade-filme.com