José Vieira | Portugal, 2022, 75'
Occupied Territories is the story of a spoliation told by the people of the Caramulo mountains. People talk about their life after the violent occupation and afforestation of their communal lands by the State in 1941. They talk about misery and immigration, about the ruptures and wounds imposed by the violent course of history, and how they resisted this expropriation. They still have the memory of a time when communities were built on a collective perception of the territory that surrounded them.
Film director of Portuguese origin, lives and works between Portugal and France. He has directed around thirty documentaries since 1985, namely for France2, France3, La Cinquième and Arte. Born in Oliveira de Frades, he left for France in 1965, at the age of seven. His personal experience as a migrant and the many stories heard and related from other emigrants inspired his latter-day work as a director. Starting from individual stories, he traced the portrait of emigration in France, recovering an entire collective memory in the process.
