Face-s-ar pamantul cer
Ana Vijdea
Portugal, Hungary, Belgium, Romania | 2022 | 14 min
Swiss Premiere
Language : Romanian
Subtitles : English
Maria, a 50-something member of an Orthodox parish in Lisbon, divides her time between prayer and daily tasks such as olive picking. She faces a dilemma: become an ascetic, or reconnect with her two sons. Ana Vijdea paints a sensitive portrait of a woman in the midst of existential doubt, in a film where images are mightier than words.
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother..." Taken from the Gospel of Matthew, this verse opens May the Earth Become the Sky – a title borrowed from an eponymous religious song – and crystallises the intimate conflict faced by Maria, a member of an orthodox community in Lisbon. Aged 48, she lives far from her two sons, whom she left in Romania to become an ascetic. But if she wants to go further down this path, she must abandon them and her maternal bond once and for all. After meeting her by chance in the Mouraria district, Ana Vijdea filmed her for two months, while Maria shared her time between prayer and the everyday tasks required by communal life. The carefully composed shots that are interwoven to make this atmospheric short film reference the world of icons, using images to reveal the thoughts and emotions of a woman caught between the spiritual world and secular life.
Emmanuel Chicon
Screenings and tickets
Trailer
+40747097339
