SFIFF: Fados

SFist Wendy takes a trip to Portugal for the SF Int'l Film Fest!

For a couple hours last night, we could have sworn that we were in Lisbon, seated in a little café enjoying fado music in the Bairro Alto. Fado, a sort of Portuguese blues, often tells a story about missing someone or something (“saudade” in Portuguese). Although fado is usually associated with Portugal, it shares Brazilian, African, and Arabic influences.

Fados, a documentary about the music, is the latest from Carlos Saura, who was known in the 60's and 70's for his very politicized films during the Franco regime, and more recently for his passionate musicals. We’re not entirely sure when Fados will hit the theaters, but we hear that it will likely be sometime later this spring or summer 2008.

On a related note, we just missed the amazing Ana Moura, who recently played a couple shows in San Francisco, but keep your ears peeled for her future performances if you want to check out some live fado but can't make it out to Lisboa.

SFist Wendy, contributing.