I Only Rest in the Storm

About the film:

In O Riso e a Faca (I Only Rest in the Storm), Pedro Pinho crafts a sweeping, meditative journey through the tangled terrain of power, desire, and belonging. The film follows Sergio (Sergio Coragem), an environmental engineer arriving in West Africa to quickly create an impact assessment for the impending construction of a road project.

As Sergio navigates corresponding pressures from various entities involved, he finds himself drawn into the clandestine world of several locals, including Diara (played by Cleo Diára, who won an acting award for her performance at Cannes) and Guillermhe (Jonathan Guilherme). The dynamics of their relationships, specifically between Sergio and each of Diara, are inevitably complex. Whether they like it or not, their identities have been shaped by a capitalist, post-colonial world.

Filmed over many months across GuinéBissau and Mauritânia, O Riso e a Faca resonates with a poetic tension: between lushness and barrenness, between native culture and foreign gaze, between displacement and intimacy.

About the festival:

ESCENA. Oslo Ibero-amerikanske filmdager is a platform for cultural exchange between Norway and the Ibero-American region.

The aim of the festival is to promote the interest in film from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations of Europe and the Americas and showcase the vibrant film expressions of these nations.

The films convey social, political, and historical aspects of this cultural context as well as the challenges currently facing the societies of the region. Even though these nations share a common cultural mainstream; they form a rich tapestry of diverse backgrounds that translate into their cinematic expression.

ESCENA also provides a gathering place and discussion forum for film enthusiasts, for those with roots in the region and others who have an interest in Ibero-America.