Manuela 1972

Directed by Luís Noronha da Costa

The large translucent screen that dominates the film clearly shows Manuela de Freitas' body holding a candle, or rather a shadow (reflection) of that body and the dominant figure in the film, a variation of reflection, blurring, and shadow. This is a shadow theater for a cinema of reflections, from which other bodies emerge rhythmically, which in turn are reflections of souls. In this black and white, silent film, the bodies are the only materiality, and it is no coincidence that the film—a film about the body and soul of Manuela de Freitas—is titled Manuela.