The documentary “The Visit and a Secret Garden”, by Spanish director Irene M. Borrego, with Portuguese co-production, received an award for excellence at the Yamagata film festival, which took place in Japan, revealed producer Cedro Plátano.The film, the first feature-length film by Spanish director Irene M. Borrego, was part of the festival’s international competition, and concluded with a prize for excellence from the jury. “The Visit and a Secret Garden” is a filmed portrait of the Spanish artist Isabel Santaló (1923- 2017), “and reflects on memory and oblivion, on art and the creative process, on what it means to be an artist and a woman”, wrote the director in the note of intentions. The documentary also features the painter Antonio López, who director Victor Erice filmed in “O somno da luz, o sol do quince” (1992). “Saving the necessary distances, we can read ‘A Visit and a Secret Garden’ as a kind of side B of ‘Sol do Marmeleiro’, by Victor Erice. But, in our case, we did not observe a famous painter, Antonio López, at his trade; nor do we contemplate masterpieces. However, we have the voice of Antonio who tells us about the diffuse figure of his forgotten colleague”, explains director Irene M. Borrego. The film is produced by Cedro Plátano, Portuguese producer Renata Sancho, with financial support from the Instituto do Cinema and Audiovisual and will premiere in Portuguese cinemas on November 16th. “The Visit and a Secret Garden” has already won other awards at festivals, namely at DocLisboa, and at the L’Alternativa festivals, in Barcelona, and Málaga, both in Spain The Yamagata festival had also already awarded the same award for excellence to the film “No Quarto da Vanda” (2001), by Pedro Costa. The festival ended on October 12th.
Portuguese-Spanish co-production “The Visit and a Secret Garden” awarded in Japan
