Rafa
Six o’clock in the morning and Rafa finds out his mother is under arrest. On a friend’s bike he crosses the bridge and goes to a police station in downtown Lisbon to see her and wait for her release. Time goes by. But Rafa doesn’t want to return home alone. Film Rafa was awarded the Golden Bear for best short film at the Berlinale 2012.
- Portugal, France
- 2012, 25 min
- Director: João Salaviza
- Director of photography: Vasco Viana
- Editor: Rodolphe Molla, João Salaviza
- Screenplay: João Salaviza
- Cast: Rodrigo Perdigão, Joana de Verona
- Producer: Maria João Mayer, François d’Artemare
- Production: Filmes do Tejo II, Les Films de L'Aprés-Midi
João Salaviza
João Salaviza (b. 1984, Portugal) graduated from ESTC National Film and Theatre School (Lisbon) and Universidad del Cine (Buenos Aires). In 2009, his short film Arena won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and received four other prestigious prizes including Best ShortFilm at IndieLisboa. In 2012, the Centre Pompidou in Paris presented four of his films as part of the Hors Piste event. He also directed short films Two Close (Duas Pessoas, 2004) being premiered at Fresh Film Fest in Karlovy Vary and winning a prize at Curtas Vila do Conde, Hotel Müller (2010) on the work of Pina Bausch, and Cerro Negro (2012) which won Best Portuguese Short Film Director – IndieLisboa. Last year João started pre-production of his first long-feature film.