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The Ascension Day

ENG:
Gone are the days when Bussaco was filled with pilgrims to celebrate Ascension Thursday, which celebrates Christ's ascension to heaven. A ritual whose origins date back to pagan times, also known as Cob Day. Where the bouquets of flowers could not be missing with the symbolism of the fecundity of wheat, the love of the poppy, the prosperity of the marigold, the health of rosemary, the peace of the olive tree or the joy of the vine. But today, there are still those who don't forget the pilgrimage and revive it, in a celebration that still livens up the slopes of Bussaco.

PT:
[A Festa: Romaria da Ascensão]
Já lá vai o tempo onde o Bussaco ficava repleto de peregrinos para festejar a Quinta-feira da Ascensão, que celebra a subida de Cristo aos céus. Um ritual cuja origem é apontada ainda a tempos pagãos, ou não fosse também conhecido como o Dia da Espiga. Onde não podiam faltar os ramos com a fecundidade do trigo, o amor da papoila, a prosperidade do malmequer, a saúde do alecrim, a paz da oliveira ou a alegria da videira. Mas hoje, ainda há quem não esqueça a romaria e a faça reviver, numa festa que ainda anima as encostas do Bussaco.

  • Paulo Fajardo
    Director
    Wellington's First Line, Scorched Earth, Selfie
  • Ricardo Venâncio
    Writer
    Wellington's First Line
  • Paulo Fajardo
    Producer
    Wellington's First Line, Scorched Earth, Selfie
  • Dora Matos
    Producer
  • Filomena Pinheiro
    Producer
  • Ana Pires
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
    Resist BA-61!
  • António Messias da Silva
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Nuno Salgado
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Alexandre Dinis
    Key Cast
    "Student #1"
  • Inês Ferreira
    Key Cast
    "Student #2"
  • Manuel Venâncio
    Key Cast
    "Flower Man"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    A Festa: Romaria da Ascensão
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 3, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Portugal
  • Country of Filming:
    Portugal
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Encontros de Cinema na Mealhada
    Mealhada
    Portugal
    November 3, 2023
    Premiere
  • Sessão especial “Cinema Na Eira”
    Anadia
    Portugal
    December 5, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Brazil New Visions Film Fest
    Pernambuco
    Brazil
    February 21, 2024
    Official Sellection
  • Encontros na Mata Nacional do Bussaco
    Mealhada
    Portugal
    April 20, 2024
    Guest Film
  • Dia do Município da Mealhada
    Mealhada
    Portugal
    May 9, 2024
    Guest Film
  • Cineteatro Messias
    Mealhada
    Portugal
    May 10, 2024
    Exibição teatral durante as comemorações do feriado religioso da Romaria da Ascensão
    Guest Film
  • Finisterra Brazil Film Art & Tourism Festival
    Porto Seguro
    Brazil
    September 2, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Viana CineFest - Festival de Cinema Ao Ar Livre
    Luanda
    Angola
    September 15, 2024
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Município da Mealhada
    Distributor
    Country: Portugal
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Paulo Fajardo

Paulo César Fajardo was born in 1980, in the city of Figueira da Foz, Portugal.
He began his activity as an independent producer in 1999, having developed several documentary and fiction projects, and in 2006, he completed his degree in Tourism from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (Portugal).
"Outono" (2000), his first short film, earned him the International Critics' Prize at the Figueira da Foz International Film Festival. In the following years he collaborated as a freelancer in the areas of camera operator, editor and director in entertainment programs for various national and international television channels; SIC, RTP, TVI, Canal 6 - Pluricanal, SportTV, VIVA, GMTV, TV5 and CamõesTV.
Among his most noticeable films, which earned him national and international recognition at film festivals, are the documentaries "Berlenga - A Ilha do Farol" (2011), "A Rebentação/Breaking Waves" (2018), "A Primeira Linha de Wellington/Wellington's First Line" ( 2021), "Africa, como eu a vi" (2024) and the film “Terra Queimada/Scorched Earth” (2022). In 2012, as a co-host, he started the podcast "VHS", the longest-running cinema podcast in Portugal, and from 2012 to 2016, he created and directed the web tv "BairradaTV".
In 2017 he was co-founder of the "Marmostra" film festival, in 2019 he was a founding member of "Cineclub Bairrada", and in 2023 he was invited to co-program "Encontros de Cinema na Mealhada/Cinema Meetings in Mealhada". From 2004 to the present, he has been working as a tv news cameraman and editor for the television channels SIC and SIC Notícias, where he highlights the production of several special reports and the weekend section "Castelos de Portugal/Castles of Portugal" for the news program "Jornal da Noite".

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