
Os Salteadores (1993)
Directed by
Abi Feijó
Genre: Animation / Short
Runtime: 14 min
Country: Portugal
Color: Black and White
Awards:
1994 Won Cartoon d'Or - Special Mention Cartoon Forum, Europe
1993 Won Special Jury Prize Cinanima
1994 Won Honorable Mention - National Competition Vila do Conde International Short Film Festival
In the 40's, after the Spanish Civil War, many republicans defeated by the nationalist forces of Franco found refuge on the bordering mountains in the north of Portugal. Some saw them as brigands, others gave them shelter and helped them on the sly to police forces of Salazar. They were... the Outlaws.
Abi Feijó was born in Braga, Portugal in 1956 and graduates from the Oporto School of Fine Arts. In 1984 he came to the National Film Board of Canada for an animation internship, which resulted in the short film Oh que Calma. Soon After, he founded Filmógrafo, an animation studio based on the NFB model of handcrafted auteur animation. The studio has built an international reputation that extends far beyond Portugal. As a Director, Feijó explores a variety of animation techniques, always with a carefully written story. In 1993, he made Os Salteadores / The Outlaws, an animated short using drawings on paper; this political drama recalling a painful incident from recent Portuguese history won numerous international awards. It was followed by Fado Lusitano (1995), a sort of self-portrait of Portugal, his history, art and culture, using paper cut-out animation. In 2000, in co-production with RTP and the French Program's Animation / Youth Studio, he completed Clandestino / Stowaway, a sand animation film whose richly textured images evoke the difficult struggle for freedom.
(Several full sources.)