Captüra Filmes

2012-02-09T03:30:00.000-08:00

Warning: The following contains scenes that some viewers will find disturbing.

João Paulo Simões on He Can Delve In Hearts:

“This film is the result of an ongoing creative collaboration that I am honoured to have with Matt Howden and his music project Sieben. Something that we established in 2006 with the production of the feature-length film Antlers of Reason and the DVD that accompanied his album High Broad Field.

Once more, this film has certainly benefited from the symbiotic process that always happens when my imagery meets his music, but also from Matt’s absolute trust in my vision – giving me complete free rein to explore and express my ideas.

This is very possibly the darkest piece that I have ever put together, but it all begins with the music – what it evokes in me. Then the actual process of conception was quite simple: I let Martin Bedford’s artwork for the album seep through and discussed some aesthetics with Matt, looking at particular photography that he’s into. Then came the format. I was keen on exploring the same short film/music video hybrid template that I had used with great success in the videos for Portuguese band Nanashi in 2010 and for Anna Wildsmith’s industrial symphonic project SOW last year.

The overall darkness of the content only became a problem during the casting period – with a good deal of actors approached either feeling uncomfortable or, less intelligently, dismissing it as a straight horror film. In the end, I am grateful for their refusal to audition or take part, because this lead us to assemble the most perfect cast in a multi-character piece that goes beyond genre.

One final note: I am personally very pleased with how the actual production went and proud that, despite the usual compromises, I managed to retain the film’s essence intact.

This is a piece of half-glimpsed narratives, of wounded characters trapped in a house. In a time loop of sorrow and obsession...”

2011-11-17T08:28:00.001-08:00

Mercy - Special Edition DVD is Out Now!
A brand-new independent film written and directed by João Paulo Simões, exploring the notions of family and identity through the brief encounter between two women.

An unforgiving tale which retains its ambiguity until the very last frame of the film.

DVD Extras include: the pilot episode of WHDE, cosmos - a microfilm and an Interview with lead actress Jude Calvert-Toulmin.

Order from Here.

Join the Facebook Group.

2011-07-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Pilot Episode of WHDE - Where Her Dreams End is now available online.
This Frontier Media/Cinema Livre production has been written and directed by João Paulo Simões from his original short film and it stars Linda Valadas, Thomas Thoroe, Amy Russ and Emmanuelle Escourrou amongst others.
.

.
For more information, visit WHDE.

2011-03-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

Warning: The following contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing.
.

.
The eagerly anticipated music video/short film hybrid Victim.
Conceived & Directed by João Paulo Simões for Sow.
Relevant links:
http://www.i-absentee.com/sow/
http://frontiermedia.blogspot.com/

2011-03-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

Imagine having a disease which no one else could see...

http://thesignalmovie.blogspot.com/

2010-10-07T06:01:00.000-07:00

V i c t i m
_

The first images from ‘Victim’, a music video for Anna Wildsmith’s project Sow are now available:

The daring piece is a Frontier Media/Cinema Livre production conceived and directed by João Paulo Simões and stars Jennifer Leti, Stuart Whelan and Tara Harris.

Nothing will be quite what it seems in ‘Victim’, which is set for a March 2011 release.

2010-06-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

The extended version of João Paulo Simões's cosmos - a microfilm.
A Frontier Media/Cinema Livre presentation.
From the generic theme of poverty, the director conceived a cinematic take on social exclusion which suggests the outlines of a more personal drama.
Part gritty observation, part poetic celebration of motherhood with a nod to Witold Gombrowicz, the film features Rebekah Buckman in the central role and the outstanding music of Sieben:

.

2010-06-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

"I would like here to pay homage to the outstanding actor Pedro Palma. He remained virtually unknown, even in his own country, until the time of his death - last Saturday, the 19th June.
I first saw him on stage, a good few years ago, in a small production of Milan Kundera's Jacques and His Master. I was immediately taken by his presence, skill and fascinated by his incredibly strong features. I knew I was going to work with him one day. And that was to happen in 2007, with my fourth full-length feature film Águas Furtadas & Outras Ausências (Stolen Waters & Other Absences). That was to be our only project together...
I regret that creative choices, professional commitments and life in general have prevented us from collaborating again. And I regret that he never got to meet my son, who shares the same name as the character he so magestically played...
I invite you all to watch a little of his performance in the following two clips from Águas Furtadas & Outras Ausências.
Your absence will be felt forever, my friend."
- Writer/Director João Paulo Simões

2010-06-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

Two women who were once each other's
imaginary friend from childhood meet in a dream...
.

_
_
The Brand-New Short Film by João Paulo Simões
Where Her Dreams End
With Hayley Youell, Chara Jackson, Amy Russ and Sarah Coleman
Original Music by Matt Howden (Sieben)

2010-04-12T01:50:00.000-07:00

Teaser Trailer for 'Star Wood Brick Firmament'
- The New Album by Sieben;
Order from: matthowden.com/
A Frontier Media Production;
Featuring Kerry Fuentes at The Bishop's House;
Conceived & Directed by João Paulo Simões;
.

2010-02-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

2010-01-01T04:25:00.000-08:00

2009-11-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

Director João Paulo Simões talks about his most recently completed work, music video Amar Salgado for Portuguese band Nanashi:

"Right from the outset, this project was blessed with mutual understanding and respect. I could immediately tell that this was a very personal song for Sara Belo (frontwoman from Nanashi), so I made sure I sampled the right elements from our early conversations in order to bring her essence into the music video outline. On the other hand, there was a genuine interest on their side in having as much of my cinematic vision incorporated into the video as possible.

This freedom opened the gate for a challenging approach, in a narrative structure already infused with a sense of mystery, fate and the quintessential Portuguese feeling of saudade.
Bursting out of the song and forming a dramatic core for the proceedings, came a central section in which not just the song was 'suspended', but the whole pace dared to slow down.
This anguished, comtemplative section is mostly carried by the actress Sílvia Almeida's terrific performance and it's punctuated with a sound design which I'm particularly proud of.The return to the song is triumphant and the overall result of part film/part music video displays what could perhaps be summed-up as hybrid vigour."

With special thanks to: Teatro da Garagem, who made their professional technicians and space at Teatro Taborda available; Frederico Corado (for his kind generosity) and Enrique Rodriguez (for making the post-production of this project a little less turbulent);

For more information and music from Nanashi, visit:
http://www.myspace.com/nanashiportugal

For other music videos and work by Filmmaker João Paulo Simões, visit his Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/JPS3

2009-08-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

Independent Filmmaker João Paulo Simões talks to Laércio Costa about the upcoming film project Londoners.

Laércio Costa: To what extent has the fact that you’re a Portuguese filmmaker living in Britain influenced your involvement in this project?
João Paulo Simões: It could definitely be said that my involvement in Londoners has a very personal angle. It’s being written by a close friend and collaborator (London-based actor Alexandre Guedes de Sousa), but, as it was presented to me, I immediately related to the concept on a human level – as someone who’s come to this country in the pursuit of what he couldn’t attain in his own.
There’s also, and perhaps more importantly, the artistic/professional side. The way I see it, this project is the culmination of a lot that I’ve been expressing and exploring since I started living and working permanently in the UK. It will incorporate a lot of what my experience in the documentary field has taught me, as well. Particularly, the work I continue to be commissioned to make under the banner of Frontier Media, which has an ethical commitment to worthwhile causes and has helped promote social integration of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, amongst other things.

LC: Despite the multicultural side of London, Londoners brings racism to the foreground. Don’t you find that these two aspects together remain a paradox? How will the lens of your camera view and illustrate this?
JPS: Without a doubt. England is one of the European countries which most and better promotes the integration of different cultures within established communities. But that comes at a cost. There’s the unspoken, yet quite generalised, view that such approach can be in detriment of the traditions which have held this country together for centuries.
For almost everything official you’re required to do here, you’re asked to fill an Equal Opportunities form, in which you’re requested to state your ethnicity, etc. This might be in place to ensure that there’s no discrimination, but it also very immediately puts you into ‘a box’. What Londoners will explore, as a means to illustrate this dichotomy, is the way you can end up paying a very high price for either not knowing your own ‘box’ or attempting to move to another one. With such a rigid Class System still in place, such concept will unavoidably extend to issues other than race.

LC: This very same multicultural side and its subsequent tensions have already been explored in other film projects. What will Londoners add and bring of different or new to the 21st Century spectator?
JPS: I often say, when talking about this project, that I’m still to see to this date a multi-character film that fulfils me as a viewer. By that, I mean, more specifically: a piece with different narrative strands, interweaving the lives of various characters in a way that is not contrived or too reliant on the notion of chance. The portrayal of a modern, urban city and how it determines the fate of the characters is one of the most imperative concepts to get right, in this particular case.
As in a lot of my fictional work, this is about identity. Becoming a Londoner can be perceived not just as a new identity, but also as a new status through which the characters believe they can succeed. And there’s on the other hand, the cultural identity you somewhat corrupt (if not sacrifice) along the way.
This is where reality will begin to seep through the narrative. The film will incorporate the accounts of real people – and the bridge between those and the dramatic elements will be established by a fictional young Scottish filmmaker who, when forced to take on a job as a street fundraiser, initiates a personal documentary project entitled Oysters (itself a reference to the TFL card all Londoners use in real life - and through which their whole lives can be, to a great extent, mapped out).
In this factual film-within-the-fiction film, individuals are captured on camera and given the chance to briefly share the reasons for leaving their country of origin and what their hopes were once they arrived in London.

LC: Londoners has been labelled on your blog as “thought-provoking”. What reaction does this project intend to “provoke”?
JPS: The main thing for us is that this is a project which is entirely relevant for our times. It’s deeply rooted in social observation and will therefore invite the viewer to relate on an emotional level to the transient quality of the different characters’ lives.
With this, comes a good degree of realisation. We expect actual Londoners to watch it and, once they step out of their homes, to feel their surroundings as a continuation of what they’d just seen... To perceive the people sitting next to them on the tube as characters from the film...
The film will also touch upon key-aspects of contemporary British society and some uncomfortable truths of the recent History of this country. But it’s the humanity of the characters and real life contributors which will give it its global appeal, making Londoners about our place in an increasingly alienating and insular modern world.

João Paulo Simões is the Producer/Director of the notorious Antlers of Reason and various other fiction films, documentaries and music videos. Amongst the projects he has in development is the documentary ‘Beyond Climate Change’ - http://beyondclimatechangedocumentary.blogspot.com/
Laércio Costa is a Portuguese Copywriter with experience in Journalism - http://laerciodcosta.carbonmade.com/

Torpor Revisited - Coming Soon

2009-06-07T04:14:00.000-07:00

Duchess, Duchess - 5th Anniversary Online Release

2009-05-27T03:47:00.000-07:00

Captüra Filmes is proud to host the feature-length drama Duchess, Duchess and celebrate its 5th Anniversary.
Produced in 2004 by I.M.Perfection Pictures, previewed at the Cannes Film Festival that same year and later bought and broadcast by Sky TV, this was the fourth film by Writer/Director João Paulo Simões.

The mind that would later bring us Absences of Mind, Antlers of Reason and Stolen Waters & Other Absences can be seen here at work with the same daring, yet lucid approach.

Preceded by two minutes of dark screen, with only but a few echoeing sounds before the 'curtain' is raised, the film is a deliberately stark affair. The fictionalised theatrical roots inform each scene and sexual jealousy soon gives way to all-encompassing guilt.

It's not just the male psyche that is deconstructed and laid bare here, but the ultimate incompatibility between verbal exposure of past desires and an intimate present relationship.

For the delight its worldwide fans, Duchess, Duchess is now available in its entirety online and can be viewed here: http://www.vimeo.com/4855460

Before Captüra...

2009-05-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

As the feature-length film Duchess, Duchess (2004) is set to be made permanently available online, Captüra Filmes looks back on the early work of Writer/Director João Paulo Simões.

His first short film, Imogen Meets The Merchant (2001), announced the arrival of the promise of a new approach to filmmaking and established the mythological/supernatural angle which was to become more prominent in later projects. It delivered an ambitiously fragmented narrative, which successfully wove together Past and Present under an all-encompassing sense of yearning.
In Overture (2002), Simões explored much darker aspects of the human condition. An acknowledgement of Cinema's inherently voyeuristic nature was combined with a cyclical structure, which was in turn drawn from J.S.Bach's counterpoint works. The composer's work was to become one of the most important and crucial references in the ensuing Captüra Filmes productions.

Ignored and neglected by its producers at the time, Duchess, Duchess is probably João Paulo Simões's most conventional film. Deliberately theatrical and old-fashioned in tone, the film was to have its broadcast rights bought by Sky TV and achieve a cult status - its central subject of retrospective jealousy perhaps ringing true to the most attentive spectators.

Unprecedently (and in response to a degree of pyracy it endured), the film will be soon made available online in its entirety.

The Official Trailer can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7kgiqN-Ifk

In Memory of JG Ballard

2009-04-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

"I feel that not much can be said or added regarding JG Ballard's death yesterday. In many ways, he wrote his own epitaph - in the shape of his last book, the autobiography Miracles of Life, but also throughout his career in fiction.
It's with such groundbreaking, visionary works as The Atrocity Exhibition, High-Rise and Crash that a personal vision dares to express the unacknowledged. With unflinching commitment, Ballard presents us with disturbingly plausible psychopathologies, which in turn highlight the true self-destructive nature of our relationship with the modern world...

His work continued to be relevant, fine-tuning a double-sided formula of alienation and familiar references. The British psyche informed every aspect of his writings and was repeatedly dissected. But the poignancy of his work surpasses the colours and shapes of any flag.
It tells of the human condition at odds with a set of castrating codes that we, ourselves, create and disguise as Progress.

JG Ballard came full circle in his own body of work and now rests in peace. His books will go on living. I will continue to be inspired by them for the rest of my own life. With the certainty that more and more possibilities can be found in that exhilirating pause one experiences between chapters of his novels..." - João Paulo Simões

Antlers of Reason Now Available on DVD

2009-04-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

We are proud to finally release the Special Edition DVD of the original Antlers of Reason - the first feature-length instalment in the Thalus Trilogy.

The film has been digitally remastered and the DVD includes such extras as a Sieben Music Video, two Torpor Revisited Previews and the Official Thalus Trilogy Trailer.

You can order it directly from this site or from other selected online venues at the discounted price of £7.99.

2009-03-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

We are proud to present the double release of the music videos Lucifer On The Moor and Virgin In The Green. Extracted from the new Sieben album As They Should Sound, these two companion pieces incorporate previous material from the High Broad Field DVD and the feature film Antlers of Reason respectively.

Read more about their inventive visual approach on
http://frontiermedia.blogspot.com/
And about the upcoming Special Edition DVD release of Antlers of Reason on http://antlersofreason.blogspot.com/

As They Should Sound available on http://www.matthowden.com/

2008-12-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Captüra Filmes promises to bring more challenging, thought-provoking work for 2009.
We will open the year with the double release of two music videos for Sieben – Virgin In The Green and Lucifer On The Moor – ahead of the release of both the album As They Should Sound and the digitally re-mastered DVD edition of the original Antlers of Reason.
Visit http://antlersofreason.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Next year will also see the completion of the remaining films of the Thalus Trilogy –
Antlers of Reason II: Morning Interim and Antlers of Reason III: Nether Edge Temptress; and keep an eye out for Frontier Media news, particularly the documentary Beyond Climate Change - http://beyondclimatechangedocumentary.blogspot.com/

Another highlight of 2009 will be the release of the eagerly-anticipated Torpor Revisitado, the third and final preview of which can be watched right here.

We wish you all a Happy New Year.

Torpor Revisited Preview #3 – The Doctor

Torpor Revisited Preview #2 - The Servant

2008-12-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

A Tribute To Pinter

2008-12-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

Harold Pinter's death has been announced today - Christmas Day. Captüra Filmes wishes to pay tribute to this ground-breaking figure of Theatre.
"There is no doubt that Pinter's legacy in terms of his work for the stage will be a lasting one - words and silence had never filled the air in such a simultaneously rich and abstract fashion before. But it's the work he did for the big screen (and which punctuated his prolific career) that made the most profound impression on me. His screenplays are the best examples of economy and precision - whether he's adapting an existing work (The Comfort of Strangers) or writing from his own creative impulse (The Servant, Accident).
Personally, I believe his finest hour falls into the former category: The Proust Screenplay - A la recherche du temps perdu.
It not just distills all the volumes of Marcel Proust's own lengthy masterpiece into the concisest of scripts, but also presents you with a remarkable understanding of film language, weaving time and space (and memory and desire) together in the most perfectly imaginable way. A script, which unfolds a possibility of what Cinema can and should be, yet was never made into a film..." - João Paulo Simões, Filmmaker;

Torpor Revisited Preview #1 - The Nurse

2008-12-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Torpor Revisited - Coming Soon

2008-10-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

With Five Years Upon Us...

2008-09-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

"Five years have passed since my first artistic encounter with João Paulo Simões, in a small coffee shop in the Lisbon suburb of Paço D’Arcos. It was then that I got acquainted with the original Torpor script. Immediately after reading it, I understood this artistic collaboration would not end soon. Five years later, I still have the same understanding.", explains Alexandre Guedes de Sousa, co-Producer and Lead Actor of Captüra Filmes’ new production – the Portuguese-language Torpor Revisitado.
He ellaborates further, when he says that "the quality of João’s work, allied to his capability to lead the cast in an intimate and trustful environment, helped revealing each actor’s potential, leading to more genuine, fair and honest performances (...)"
This brand-new feature film - which re-introduces the three central characters of the original Torpor (2003) and unfolds further some of the enigmatic circumstances of their existence - also weaves new characters into the tapestry of the narrative.
"It pleases me that no one feels sorry for Madalena", adds co-Producer and Lead Actress Ana Amorim. "(...)I don't feel sorry for her", she re-inforces, "she's sufficiently strong to understand that all that goes on is somehow beyond her and deeply rooted in herself. A path followed in search for the unattainable (...)"

A key-location in this production was the former Youth Camp Quinta do Mar in Sintra, which dubbed as the Private Clinic where the majority of the characters converge to in the film. "(...) the sleep-on-location approach (similar to an artists-in-residence programme and resembling a theatre troupe) permitted a healthy collective working environment where more extreme characters like Lucas, played by myself, found the ideal nest for their (re)birth.", concludes Alexandre Guedes de Sousa.

The remaining cast includes Ana Falé, Sofia Valadas, Helena Salazar, Anna Carvalho and Bruno Costa who all contributed with remarkable performances which, together with the unexpected ending, signal the way for future instalments.
Click on the various images to enlarge and preview some of the key-moments in this brand-new Captüra Filmes/Cinema Livre production, written & directed by João Paulo Simões.

"Muito obrigada João (Sim-ões) pela maneira fascinante como iluminas e dás luz aos actores para que dêem à luz as personagens..." - Ana Amorim

Thalus Trilogy Unleashed

2008-08-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

Captüra Filmes is proud to finally release the eagerly anticipated trailer for Antlers Of Reason: The Thalus Trilogy.
The trailer features imagery selected from the three Antlers films with glimpses of the intertwining erotic mystery tales.

For more information, visit the brand-new online presence: http://antlersofreason.blogspot.com/

Stolen Waters Premiere and 8:27 Preview

2008-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

After its successful Special Edition on DVD, Stolen Waters & Other Absences has made its way to the multicultural Festival Festa Redonda which spreads across the nine islands of the Azores archipelago.
Captüra Filmes has strategically selected this broad-minded festival for the silver-screen premiere of the film and is proud to have the film shown in Portuguese territory.
For more information, visit: http://festivalfestaredonda.blogspot.com/search/label/Cinema

The short film 8:27 by Spanish Director Guillermo Ibáñez has been launched online. This intimate, mosaic-like portrayal of grief stars João Paulo Simões and Kerry Fuentes.
Preview it here:
http://www.libelulafilms.co.uk/samples_8_27.html

Torpor Revisited Update

2008-05-31T05:59:00.001-07:00

Captüra Filmes proudly presents the first official image from Torpor Revisited.
After an intensive period of 15 days of filming in Barcelona, in which Director João Paulo Simões was reunited with the magnificent Ana Falé (lead actress from the original Torpor), the production is now set to move on to Lisbon.

More to come soon...

Talking Trilogies

2008-04-29T03:43:00.000-07:00

The Stolen Waters & Other Absences Special Edition DVD is out now and can be ordered by emailing frontier.m@gmail.com

New Releases

2008-03-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

The limited edition DVD of Stolen Waters & Other Absences is now available.
You can place your order online by emailing frontier.m@gmail.com or alternatively by contacting Captüra Filmes through its Myspace presence: www.myspace.com/capturafilmes
This second instalment of João Paulo Simões’ Absences Trilogy - initiated by Absences of Mind in 2005 - features an ensemble international cast led by Martina Goodman, Luís Correia Carmelo, Ivania Elena, Martin Nowacki and Alexandre Guedes de Sousa.
The trilogy concludes next year, with the release of Remaining Absences, in which the key themes of loss, love and longing will come together full-circle.

Enrique Rodriguez’s directorial debut, Hypotenuse has been made available online recently - an evocative piece, which intercuts between three different scenarios to atmospheric results.
The production was facilitated by Captüra Filmes and the short-film, which also stars British actress Martina Goodman, is now released by Vaavi Studios.
It can be previewed on the following link:
http://icewhole.com/site/films/film.cfm?filid=1514

Torpor Revisited Cast Announced

2008-03-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Dead Language - Collected Poems

2008-02-26T04:25:00.000-08:00

2008 Projects:

2008-01-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Captüra Filmes is currently delineating its production slate for 2008.

The year opened promisingly with rehearsals for the upcoming Torpor Revisited. Alexandre Guedes de Sousa and a guest actress embraced the opportunity to dissect a key selected scene, leading to exhilarating results.

Castings will proceed throughout the coming weeks, but the lead

actress from the original film, Ana Falé, is now officially on-board of this new version.

Written and directed by João Paulo Simões, Torpor Revisited is set to enter production next Spring and continue into the Summer in such locations as Barcelona, Sintra and Lisbon.

Conflicting schedules and re-negotiations have forced the production and completion of the remaining parts of The Thalus Trilogy to be pushed back for late Autumn/early Winter. Yet, before Antlers Of Reason II and III come out officially, a special trailer for the whole trilogy will be released online, which will be accompanied by the presentation of a brand-new spin-off series in comic-book format.
This currently in-production Graphic Novel will unfold further some of the pagan mythology originated by the films, introducing some new characters - and bringing some old ones back…
More to come soon…

2007-11-27T03:46:00.000-08:00

5 Years of Captüra Filmes

2007-11-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Captüra Filmes is celebrating 5 years of delivering uncompromising, truly independent work. It all began with the production of Torpor, the poetic exploration of an unfulfilled existence released in 2003.
Anticipating next year’s Torpor Revisited, we now make available the original film to download for free and for a limited period only:

http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=8e8050e

Next year will also see the completion and release of the second and third films in the Thalus Trilogy. Brand-new imagery of these upcoming erotic mystery tales will be available soon…

2007-10-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

2007-10-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

Strings & Sutures

2007-10-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Brand-New Production Company Frontier Media has completed the three-minute film “Strings & Sutures” for the online competition being organised by Ford Mondeo and The Daily Telegraph.Starring Andy Martin and Patrycja Kujawska (from Vincent Dance Theatre), the film has been written, produced and directed by João Paulo Simões, co-produced by Sarah Coleman, with costumes and décors by Lucy Lauener and sound recorded/mixed by Nishal Ranchhod.
Voting will open at the official website on October 27:
http://fordfilmchallenge.telegraph.co.uk/site/
For more information on this and other Frontier Media commissions, visit:
http://frontiermedia.blogspot.com/

Other relevant links:
http://manufacturastudios.blogspot.com/
http://www.vincentdt.com/

Teaser Trailer For Desire Rites

2007-09-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Temptress Unveiled

2007-09-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

The ongoing Thalus Trilogy sees its most crucial character finally cast. The central role in the final film, Antlers Of Reason III – Nether Edge Temptress, is to be played by actress Maria Lee. She will be joining Mark Ashmore, João Paulo Simões and Martin Nowacki in the production of another segment of this third film, which is being scheduled for the second half of October.

“The idea is to bring everything as tightly together as possible. Elements of the third film, which are still to be filmed, are going to be inserted in the second, Morning Interim, as part of Jay’s fragmented existence; whilst details of the original Antlers are going to be re-enacted in a ritualistic, supernatural way in the last film. The finished Trilogy will be a self-contained, close-to-hermetic challenging piece.” - João Paulo Simões, Producer/Director;

Far From Emptiness – by João Paulo Simões

2007-07-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

“Ingmar Bergman was like a scavenger of the human soul. Throughout his long career, he utilised filmmaking to dig deeper and with more precision than anyone else; and went unblinkingly ahead, feeding on his own humanity along the way, in order to bring light to quintessential themes of our existence…
He died yesterday, at the age of 89.
As someone who was first exposed to his work at an early age and then deeply influenced throughout my life and own development as a fellow filmmaker by it, I pay now my respects.
It is not emptiness that his departure leaves us with though. His oeuvre is remarkably complete and came majestically full circle with his very last film.
Behind remains a body of work punctuated with unparalleled examples of Cinema in its purest form.”

2007-07-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Water-Levels

2007-06-28T04:22:00.001-07:00

Rivers burst their banks… Bridges collapse… Over a thousand people are stranded and lose their homes…
Stolen Waters & Other Absences officially entered post-production at Archipelago Studios in Sheffield this week – on the exact same day of the floods that devastated a lot of the surrounding areas.
The feature-film has been invigorated by the recent re-shoots (see previous post) and is now steadily advancing towards completion.
Expect a new evocative tale delivered by the Storyteller (Luís Correia Carmelo), exquisite locations in Rome and a poetic strand of interwoven emotions throughout these three new segments.

All Things Captüra - Update

2007-06-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

And the various current projects of Captüra Filmes continue their progress…
As previously announced, actress Ivania Elena arrived last month to take part in the re-shoots of Águas Furtadas & Outras Ausências, the visual illustrations and audio recordings of Otomana and the preliminary filming of Antlers Of Reason III – Nether Edge Temptress.

The additional footage/re-shoots of Águas Furtadas took place in and around Grindleford. It elaborates further upon the background of the Madeleine character and the tragic way in which she crossed paths with the Poet in exile (in this ‘fictitious version’ played by Martin Nowacki).
Simultaneously, Enrique Rodriguez’s directorial debut, Hypotenuse, also proceeded with its ongoing production, adding to its character-triptych structure another previous Captüra collaborator, Martina Goodman.

Otomana, the unpublished Portuguese-language novella by João Paulo Simões has been given new interpretations in the shape of visual illustrations conceived by the author and featuring the work and presence of artist Sarah Coleman, alongside Ivania Elena. After that photo session, Ivania was directed by João Paulo in the audio recordings of the first four chapters of the same text. This late afternoon session took place at Manufactüra Studios and unedited samples from it can now be found on its recently launched blog.
Over the five subsequent days, the production of what will be one of several autonomous segments in the third of the Thalus Trilogy finally took place. This new tale brings desperate violence to the foreground and signals the way to the dramatic conclusion of the trilogy, all in the already established sense of erotic foreboding.
“Antlers III has been my biggest acting challenge to date. However, thanks to João Paulo’s vision and direction, I never doubted that it was an experience worth going through.” – Ivania Elena

Antlers Of Reason III – Nether Edge Temptress will remain officially in production until the end of the year and has counted so far with the exquisite participation of Ivania Elena, Mark Ashmore, Martin Nowacki, Nishal Ranchhod and Jacky Hall.
More to come soon on Otomana and the Absences/Thalus Trilogies…

Relevant links:

http://manufacturastudios.blogspot.com/
http://www.markashmore.com/
http://www.ivaniaelena.com/
http://www.myspace.com/carahsoleman

2007-04-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

The micro cosmos of a small village in Barnsley, North of England and its recent history are placed under the observational lens of filmmaker João Paulo Simões in the short documentary “Bleak Hill”.
Commissioned by Forge Arts for Health this disarmingly simple film retraces the steps to find the origins of Blacker Hill’s ‘former identity’, whilst probing into the heritage and mythology attached to certain locations of the surrounding grounds.

With the insightful support of two local history researchers, a group of former miners and honest statements of discontent on the part of the village’s youths, a melancholic tapestry is woven – exposing the heart of one of Britain’s most deprived areas.

2007-04-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hypotenuse, Águas Furtadas Re-Shoots, Antlers III Preliminaries & More...

2007-03-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

The month of May will see Captüra Filmes working full steam. After the production of a commissioned documentary scheduled for the majority of April, Filmmaker João Paulo Simões is setting up the production of Enrique Rodriguez’s short film ‘Hypotenuse’. This will be immediately followed by the re-shoots and brand-new additional filming for the feature-length project ‘Águas Furtadas & Outras Ausências’ – in which two of the characters (played by Ivania Elena and Martin Nowacki) will see more of their tragic background exposed; and by the shooting of preliminary footage for the third in the Thalus Trilogy, ‘Antlers of Reason III – Nether Edge Temptress’.
Actress Ivania Elena will also co-star in this latter project, a multi-stranded narrative that is to bring together all the themes initiated and explored in the previous two films. Around the same time, she will be contributing to the ongoing ‘Otomana’ (see previous post), with both her vocal talents to the audio version of the first four chapters of the novella and the embodiment of one of the characters in some of the illustrations that will accompany the text in the future…

The Blueprint

2007-03-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

Manufactüra Studios, the brand-new audio division of Captüra Filmes has now become officially active. Amongst the already lined-up commissioned work, very special recording sessions have also began.
The unpublished Portuguese-language novella “Otomana” was written by João Paulo Simões eleven years ago in Lisbon and has been regarded by the selected few who have read it as the blueprint of all of the author’s subsequent film work.
Recently salvaged, the text has been attracting the interest of various artists, including photographer/graphic artist Miss Bliss, leading to the commission of illustrations for it.
The first sections of the book are also now being recorded - an ongoing project that will employ vocal talents of previous Captüra Filmes collaborators.

Second Antlers Poster Preview

2007-03-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

This is an exclusive preview of the second teaser poster for Antlers Of Reason II: Morning Interim. The image relates to the first of two individual stories that comprise this sequel.

A constant duality will mark this dense, textured film and themes of the original will be explored from different angles, driving us towards the announced climactic third part of the trilogy.

More to come soon…

In The Water Element

2007-03-01T05:40:00.000-08:00

Dolphins In Canada is the new Rear Entrance Films production – an evocative music video for New York project The Great Churn. This highly-stylized exercise conceived by filmmaker João Paulo Simões is infused with a pervasive sense of yearning and can be perceived as an abstract study of mortality.
Featuring the terrific British actress Hannah Murphy, the video incorporates footage shot in Nether Edge, Ladybower and Archipelago Studios; along with some dramatic landscape imagery captured in the most western point in continental
Europe – Cabo da Roca in Portugal.
Logistical support was supplied by Ricardo Gomes and Colombian Filmmaker Enrique Rodriguez, who also contributed in the Lighting/Camera department.
Crucial help was also provided by Hasham Baig (with a key-prop)
and Erica Packington
(with the casting).
Very special thanks to Anton Serafimko (for the trust) and Joanna Pluymaeckers-Bailey (for all the support and belief).

Last but not least, gratitude should be extended to Rupert Wood and the whole team at Archipelago Studios, where the entire post-production of this music video took place.

Dolphins In Canada can be watched directly on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U663jxx04N0
Other relevant links: http://www.greatchurn.com/ http://www.myspace.com/greatchurn
http://www.myspace.com/archipelagoart http://www.myspace.com/capturafilmes http://www.capturafilmes.com/

Preview Of The Antlers Sequel Poster

2007-02-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

This is an exclusive preview of the upcoming Antlers Of Reason II: Morning Interim official poster. You can expect a powerful trailer to be released alongside Águas Furtadas & Outras Ausências and the completed film to be available around late Spring. More news to come soon...

"Whatever they criticise you for, intensify it." - Jean Cocteau

Segments Revisited

2007-02-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

As the completion and release of the second film in The Absences Trilogy, Águas Furtadas & Outras Ausências, becomes imminent, Captüra Filmes has decided to make three out of the six segments which comprise the original film, Ausências de Espírito, available for downloading.

The success and growing interest in the recently uploaded material (see the two previous posts) have lead to this strategy, making therefore virtually all the Captüra Filmes cinematic output to date available online.
The English-subtitled full-length film is only and strictly available to purchase on DVD format. For more information contact Captüra Filmes via email: info@capturafilmes.com.

The aforementioned segments are then, for a limited-period only available for downloading in a single high-quality DivX file:

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/368777/ThreeAbsencesSegments.divx

Glimpses Of The Past

2007-02-01T08:27:00.000-08:00

Torpor was the first Captüra Filmes production, back in 2003 and the third film to be directed by João Paulo Simões. Acknowledged as an uncompromising blueprint to the majority of themes to follow and a clear step towards a genuine simplicity of form, it was also the first Portuguese-language project by the Director.
Exploring the almost palpable poetry of his native language, João Paulo Simões employed the extraordinary, ominous voice of actress Natália Luíza in a melancholic tale of an unfulfilled existence.
In a remarkable, layered performance, Ana Falé portrays this in all its inherent subjectivities, ‘unfolding’ the true essence of the character as the bleak narrative progresses. The cast includes Alexandre Guedes de Sousa, also in his first collaboration with João Paulo Simões, in a disturbing performance as a ‘male without purpose’; and the musical score features J.S.Bach, Nishal Ranchhod and The Ultimate Architects.
Alongside the successful, recent upload of the full-length Antlers Of Reason, Captüra Filmes has decided to make this English-subtitled film equally available for downloading in a high-quality DivX file:

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/340884/Torpor2003DivX.divx

Antlers Censored

2007-01-25T07:54:00.000-08:00

After an exclusive period of 2 months and 19 days, during which the film has been viewed a total of 15088 times, Antlers Of Reason has encountered its first taste of unacknowledged censorship.
Due to what seems to be ‘a considerable amount of formal complaints’, Youtube was forced to remove two of the film’s seven preview reels. Ironically enough, this act of blatant puritanical self-righteousness (on the part of those offended by some of the film’s content) has coincided with the already foretold end of this limited-period preview.
The remarkable interest and excellent feedback Antlers Of Reason generated speaks for itself.
Both fans of the work and fellow artists have reacted to this censorship issue in very similar ways, some remarking along the lines of ‘if only people stopped to look at the context in which certain scenes are presented…” That’s what it comes down to.
So, with this in mind and out of respect for known and unknown like-minded individuals, this erotic, mystery tale is now made available for downloading in a single full-length high-quality file (Note: You will require the DivX Codec to play this file back on your computer and it will only be available for a period of 89 days):

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/319890/AntlersOfReasonDivX.divx

The Thalus Trilogy remains in progress, with Antlers Of Reason II – Morning Interim coming out soon…

Sounds Of The Near Future

2007-01-18T03:29:00.000-08:00

A long-nurtured, new division of Captüra Filmes is to become officially active from March 2007.
Manufactüra Studios is to be strictly dedicated to audio aspects of future productions, including the recording and engineering of sound, along with the vital supply of originally composed music.
In charge of Manufactüra will be long-time collaborator Nishal Ranchhod - the gifted composer/engineer behind the main themes of João Paulo Simões' Torpor (2003) and Duchess, Duchess (2004). Nishal is also responsible for the introspective, fragmented tune of Captüra Filmes' Introductory Logo.
On a slightly different note, the past will also be re-visited soon. The Ultimate Architects, a project co-founded by João Paulo Simões, has been supplying the filmmaker's oeuvre with a rich and diverse tapestry of music and sounds from the very beginning.
All the way from a full score in Imogen Meets The Merchant (2001) to brieft, yet incive textures in Antlers Of Reason (2006).
The time has come now to look back and compile, remix and release, as recently agreed with David Benasulin, the leader of The Ultimate Architects.
To be entitled Themes & Soundscapes, this limited edition CD will focus primarily on the filmography of João Paulo Simões, but will also feature other past and recent soundtrack works.
It will be made available for purchase online in the coming months.

It Begins With A Smile...

2007-01-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

Rear Entrance Films opens 2007 with the production of Music Video Sorriso da Manhã (Morning Smile) for Ragga singer Prince Wadada.
The video, conceived and directed by João Paulo Simões, was entirely shot in Lisbon, where the whole post-production also took place at Espanca Estúdios.
It is now available for viewing online - through Prince Wadada's own profile on Myspace or Captüra Filmes' Channel on Youtube:
http://www.myspace.com/princewadada
http://www.youtube.com/user/JPS3
The very simple and colourful aproach, employs the beauty and screen presence of Singer/Actress Neema in the central role; along with juxtaposing a treated, contrasted look with an observational documentary style; and making use of old Portuguese quarters and the historical Mercado da Ribeira.

Upcoming Absences

2006-12-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

2007 will also see the release of three new segments in the Portuguese language Absences Trilogy, initiated two years ago with Absences Of Mind. The new film - Stolen Waters & Other Absences - which weaves together fact and fiction in a melancholic tapestry, will employ such recurring devices as having a story being verbally told by the soulful figure of Storyteller Luís Correia Carmelo and a constant yearning for who or what is now absent.
This time around, the various characters are gradually introduced as possessing an emotional attachment to an absent Poet in exile named Tomás. The somehow literary narrative brings them together in their craving for meaningful intimacy. This marks a clear departure in approach from the original film, in which the sheer isolation of the characters was intentionally left unresolved.

The new, transitional film can be perceived as a clear step towards the linearity of the road movie which will define the third, final instalment.

To be entitled Remaining Absences and entirely shot across the lush Portuguese landscape, the film will bring the previous spiritual and geographical journeys to a moving conclusion. Production is being scheduled for late Summer 2007.

An international trailer for the current Stolen Waters is available on the Captüra Channel on Youtube and the film's post-production will be shared between the new Espanca Estúdios in Portugal and Archipelago Studios in England - where Captüra Filmes is based.

The ensemble cast includes: Paul Hann (The Da Vinci Code), Martina Goodman (High Broad Field), Luís Correia Carmelo (Absences Of Mind), Ivania Elena, Alexandre Guedes de Sousa (Torpor, Absences Of Mind), Sara Aleixo, Martin Nowacki (Antlers Of Reason, High Broad Field), Susanna Romoli (Absences Of Mind), Matt Howden and Pedro Palma;

Featuring an evocative main theme by Matt Howden (Sieben), the film will also have additional music by Neil McSweeney, Nishal Ranchhod and a pinch of J.S.Bach...

Thalus Trilogy Exclusive

2006-12-09T04:26:00.000-08:00

The ongoing Thalus Trilogy will see its second release in 2007: Antlers Of Reason II - Morning Interim. A co-production between Captüra Filmes, Rear Entrance Films and Ali Heath-Cook, the feature-length film will encapsulate two brand-new erotic mystery tales. The apparently unrelated stories are meant to be mirror images of one another - which, not unlike the original film, will dive deep into the central characters' repressed fears and desires. The notion of identity will be again at the centre of it, and the plot unveils a little more about the pagan mythology out of which the Forgotten God Thalus is "sampled". Once more, moments of both physical and psychological displacement will be created out of the dense, subterranean narrative textures - juxtaposing fantasy with reality.
The film is currently resuming production and you can expect the first promotional images to appear across the Web early next year, along with a Teaser Trailer some time in February. Keep an eye on the Captüra Filmes Official Website, Captüra's Profile on Myspace and Captüra's Channel on Youtube.
Cast includes: Ali Heath-Cook, Greg Miles Patmore, Annette Ross and João Paulo Simões.
You can expect more outstanding music by Sieben and to contrast the monochrome of the original, this new instalment to be presented in full blown colour.

2007 will also see the beginning of principal photography for the third film, Antlers Of Reason III - Nether Edge Temptress.
This is being sketched as a multi-character piece, the three main parts of which will be interspersed with short horror segments in still images. Something of a tradition in João Paulo Simões' work, already explored in the two previous films, which will also be bridging the gap to the comic-book spin-off, already in development.

More to come soon...