ARRIAGA

On the shores of Lisbon, Arriaga, a 25 years old boy from a middle-class family of emigrants walks alone through the silent and wrinkled streets by vices of the nightlife. Arriaga deals with his self-destructive alter ego to be accepted among the youth of his neighborhood. The price to be paid for due respect among the marginal pitchers of the neighborhood may cost Arriaga's life, that dreams of being a martyr on the fringes of society inspired by the legends like Tupac, Notorious BIG, NAS, WU-TANG Clan. Everything happens in one place, everything revolves around a single moment, what is suspicious only the unexpected can unfold.

  • Welket Bungué
    Director
    BASTIEN, BUÔN, MESSAGE, WOODGREEN, AGINAL
  • Welket Bungué
    Writer
    BASTIEN, BUÔN, MESSAGE, WOODGREEN, AGINAL
  • André Lourenço
    Producer
    Bastien
  • Welket Bungué
    Producer
    Buôn, Message, Woodgreen, Aginal
  • Isabél Zuaa
    Key Cast
    "Kenya"
  • Gio Lourenço
    Key Cast
    "Arriaga"
  • Cleo Tavares
    Key Cast
    "Chade"
  • Mauro Hermínio
    Key Cast
    "Bonerouge"
  • Paulo Pascoal
    Key Cast
    "Alan"
  • Miguel Valle
    Key Cast
    "Bari Cravid"
  • Nuno Casanovas
    Cinematographer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    ARRIAGA
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Urban Drama
  • Runtime:
    25 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 26, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Portugal
  • Country of Filming:
    Portugal
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL, 35mm, HDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Official Selection - IndieLisboa International Film Festival 2019
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    May 4, 2019
    Portuguese Premier
    National Short Film Competition
  • REALTIME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - Remote Edition 2020
    Ikeja
    Nigeria
    May 12, 2020
    Online Premiere
    Official Selection
  • RTF - Remote Edition 2020 | AWARD WINNER

    Nigeria
    BEST LIGHTING DESIGN AWARD
  • Official Selection - Prize António Loja Neves 2019

    Portugal
    June 22, 2019
    Official Selection
  • ANARCHY FILM FESTIVAL 2019
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    September 7, 2019
    Official Selection
  • XIII Pentedattilo Film Festival
    Reggio Calabria
    Italy
    Italian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • XVI FIKE - Festival Internacional de Curtas Metragens de Évora
    Évora
    Portugal
    September 14, 2019
    Official Selection
  • X KUGOMA Mozambique Film Forum
    Maputo
    Mozambique
    August 31, 2019
    African Premiere
    Official Selection
  • AFRIKAMERA 2019
    Berlin
    Germany
    October 11, 2019
    German Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Plateau - Festival Internacional de Cinema'19
    Cidade da Praia
    Cape Verde
    November 18, 2019
    Cape Verdian Premiere
    KUGOMA Section
  • Prémios Sophia da Academia Portuguesa de Cinema 2020
    Lisboa
    Portugal
    March 22, 2020
    “Nomeado” Melhor Curta-Metragem de Ficção
  • Leiria Film Festival 2020
    Leiria
    Portugal
    March 14, 2020
    Special Selection - Cinemax Section
  • Shortcutz Ovar 2020
    Ovar
    Portugal
    March 26, 2020
    Official Selection - National Competition
  • Urban Audiovisual Festival 2020
    Lisboa
    Portugal
    May 28, 2020
    Official Selection
  • FCCPLP - Portuguese Speaking Countries Short Film Festival 2020
    Montreal
    Canada
    May 5, 2020
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • IV LEGACY The Film Club Toronto
    Toronto
    Canada
    August 17, 2020
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • II Quibdó África Film Festival
    la Yesquita, Quibdó
    Colombia
    September 15, 2020
    Colombian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • XI Silicon Valley African Film Festival
    San Jose, CALIFORNIA
    United States
    October 9, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Portuguese Speaking Countries Short Film Festival 2021
    Funchal
    Portugal
    July 25, 2021
    Curated by Arte Institute
  • 2ª Mostra Taturana de Cinema
    Lisboa
    Portugal
    September 14, 2021
    Foco Democracia e Antirracismo
Distribution Information
  • KUSSA Productions
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Welket Bungué

Welket Bungué is originally from the Balanta tribe, was born in Xitole (Guinea-Bissau) on February 7th, 1988. He is a Portuguese-Guinean actor and film director based in Berlin, a co-founder of Kussa Productions. He holds a degree in Theater from the Actors branch (ESTC / Lisbon) and a postgraduate degree in Performance (UniRio / Brazil). He is a Permanent Member of the Portuguese Academy of Cinema, the Deutsche Filmakademie, and a member of the European Film Academy since 2021. Its films have been screened on several international film festivals, such as Berlinale, ABFF (US), Africlap (France), Zanzibar Intl. Film Fest., Afrikamera (Berlin), IndieLisboa, DocLisboa, Rio de Janeiro IFF, and the Stockholm Dansfilmfestival. He also directed the short films 'Mudança' (2021), 'I Am Not Pilatus'(2019), 'Arriaga'(2019), and 'Bastien'(2016) in which he was distinguished with the “Best Actor Award” and “Best First Film Award” by Shortcutz Awards 2017. In 2019 he was awarded with an “Angela Award - On The Move” at the Subtitle Festival in Kilkenny (Ireland), by Richard Cook and Steve Cash. Welket Bungué starred the cast of 'Joaquim', by Marcelo Gomes (Intl. Competition Berlinale 2017), 'Body Electric' (IFFR 2017), 'Kaminey' (2009), by Vishaal Bahardwaj, 'Letters From War' (Intl. Competition Berlinale 2016), by Ivo M. Ferreira. In 2020 Welket won the "MAAT Grand Prize - FUSO Intl. Festival of Video Art of Lisbon" with his film 'Metalheart', also starred Franz Biberkopf in 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' (Berlinale 2020), directed by Burhan Qurbani, which lead him to a nomination as “Best Male Lead” at the LOLA awards of the German Film Academy (Deutscher Filmpreis), and grant him a “Aluminum Horse Prize” for “Best Actor” at the Stockholm Intl. Film Festival. In 2021, he won the 'Cinema Industry Prestige Award' at the 25th RDP Africa - Prestige Award Cerimony (Portugal). Welket is part of the main cast of the new film from David Cronenberg, 'Crimes of the Future', among the actors Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart.
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Welket Bungué é artista transdisciplinar, de etnia balanta. Considera-se de origem guineense-português, tendo nascido na Guiné-Bissau (região de Xitole) a 7 de Fevereiro de 1988. Reside em Berlim, mas trabalha artisticamente ao nível internacional. É co-fundador da produtora KUSSA, faz locução para entidades internacionais, desenvolve Escrita Dramática, Argumento de Cinema, Performances e Teatro. É licenciado em Teatro no ramo de Atores (ESTC/Lisboa) e pós-graduado em Performance (UniRio/RJ). É Membro Permanente da Academia Portuguesa de Cinema desde 2015, membro da Deutsche Filmakademie desde 2020, e membro associado da Academia Europeia de Cinema desde 2021. Os seus filmes têm circulado internacionalmente por inúmeros festivais de cinema tais como Berlinale, ABFF (EUA), Africlap (França), Zanzibar Intl. Film Fest., Afrikamera (Berlim), IndieLisboa, DocLisboa, Fest. Intl. de Cinema do Rio de Janeiro ou o Stockholm Dansfilmfestival. Welket realizou as curtas-metragens 'Eu Não Sou Pilatus'(2019), 'Arriaga'(2019) e 'Bastien'(2016) no qual foi distinguido com os prémios “Melhor Ator” e “Melhor Primeira Obra” nos prémios Shortcutz 2017 em Viseu e Ovar respetivamente. Em 2019 foi distinguido com o prémio “Angela Award - On The Road” no Subtitle Festival em Kilkenny, na Irlanda. Em 2020 Welket é o protagonista de 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' (Comp. Intl. Berlinale 2020), realizado por Burhan Qurbani, em que a sua interpretação lhe valeu uma indicação ao Urso de Prata, uma nomeação como “Melhor Ator Principal” nos prémios LOLA da Academia Alemã de Cinema (Deutscher Filmpreis), e ainda o prémio “Cavalo de Alumínio” para “Melhor Ator” no Festival Internacional de Cinema de Estocolmo. Welket está a terminar a escrita do seu primeiro livro 'Corpo Periférico', um ensaio autobiográfico sobre a produção de cinema de autor com base no conceito homónimo de "cinema de autorrepresentação".

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"... there is still a lot to be told, having as background the experiences of the outskirts of Lisbon, places with disruptive potential but still dormant." - ARRIAGA is my fifth film as a director, and I feel that there is still a lot to be done about narratives about social reality, especially about the peripheries of big cities. ARRIAGA is part of a film triptych that began with BASTIEN (2016) and will end with LEBSI. In these narratives, I aspire to give focus to the stories lived by young people who live in places of great vulnerability from the social-community point of view, but especially they are disqualified by a system that excludes them from the real possibilities or structures that could lead them to success. Arriaga is a young middle class, son of the third generation of the African diaspora in Portugal and who in a different context would not have sought a respectability or acceptance by other displaced individuals of the society or without any direction specifically in its integration in society in general. In this context I give visibility to the real dreams and devires of the characters of the film such as music, dance and resilience but also a certain ease which are factors that can be highlighted and combated with the integrated sensitization in the places characteristically referred to as peripheral. I decided to give continuity to the pro-disruptive discourse of empowerment and decentralization of the social 'machine' against the disadvantaged and genuine young people who have reinvented culture in the border regions of large urban centers.

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"... ainda há muito para ser contado, tendo como fundo as vivências das zonas periféricas de Lisboa, lugares com potencial disruptivo mas ainda adormecidos". - ARRIAGA é o meu quinto filme como realizador, e sinto que ainda há muito a fazer acerca de narrativas sobre a realidade social sobretudo aquela que diz respeito às periferias das grandes cidades. ARRIAGA faz parte de um tríptico fílmico que se iniciou com BASTIEN (2016) e terminará com LEBSI. Nestas narrativas ambiciono dar foco às histórias vivenciadas por jovens que habitam lugares de grande vulnerabilidade do ponto de vista social-comunitário mas especialmente são desqualificados por um sistema que os exclui das verdadeiras possibilidades ou estruturas que os poderiam conduzir ao sucesso. Arriaga é um jovem de classe média, filho da terceira geração da diáspora africana em Portugal e que num contexto diferente não teria almejado uma respeitabilidade ou aceitação por parte de outros indivíduos deslocados da sociedade ou sem qualquer tipo de direção concretamente no que toca à sua integração na sociedade em geral. Neste contexto dou visibilidade aos reais sonhos e devires das personagens do filme tais como a música, a dança e a resiliência mas também um certo comodismo que são fatores que podem ser destacados e combatidos com a sensibilização integrada nos locais caracteristicamente citados como periféricos. Decidi dar continuidade ao discurso pró-disruptivo de empoderamento e descentralização da 'máquina' social contra os desfavorecidos e genuínos jovens que têm reinventado a cultura nas regiões limítrofes dos grandes centros urbanos.