It's Not Fado, It's Faggot Fado

Logline: Sometimes the beauty of Fado music can be found in the voice of a Bicha Fadista.

Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of a traditional Portuguese society, Fado Bicha (trans)forms heteronormative Fado music into a queer labyrinth of self-acceptance and self-expression. By reclaiming the scars that homophobia and transphobia have given them, Fado Bicha exposes what Fado music could have been if society were more accepting.

  • Erin Macpherson
    Director
  • Lila Tiago
    Key Cast
    "Lila Fadista"
  • João Caçador
    Key Cast
  • Erin Macpherson
    Director of Photography
  • Erin Macpherson
    Editor
  • DocNomads
    Producer
  • Bence Kovács-Vajda
    Sound Mix
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Não é Fado, é Fado Bicha
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    LGBTQ+, Drama, Portrait, Documentary short, Portuguese Film
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 29, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Portugal
  • Country of Filming:
    Belgium, Hungary, Portugal
  • Language:
    English, Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Universidade Lusófona, Brussels LUCA School of Arts, SZFE
  • DocLisboa
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    October 11, 2022
    World Premiere
    Nominated for Best Portuguese Film Audience Award
  • DocPoint
    Helsinki
    Finland
    February 1, 2023
    International Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 1st Timers Lisbon
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    Nominated for Best Debut Film
Director Biography - Erin Macpherson

Erin Macpherson is an award-winning docu-fiction filmmaker from South Africa with a Masters in Documentary Film Directing from Doc Nomads. Their work has featured internationally, screening at festivals such as DIFF, OutFest, DocLisboa, Tampere, and so forth, as well as winning a SAFTA for their short film, "The Water Dancers", and a Golden Eagle Best Director Award for "I Did Not Wake Up Dead Today".

Believing that cinema is the universal language of empathy, their work bends the boundary between documentary and fiction, creating art that centres its narratives on socio-political issues that both divide and connect us. Their films explore themes of grief through a disarmingly humorous lens in an effort to show the complexities of the lived human experience.

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