Fall is a short film, produced by MEXE Associação Cultural, that focuses on the impact the pandemic has brought to members of Portugal’s younger, and lower economic communities. Precarity, job insecurity and the right to safe housing were already some of the main concerns found within these communities, yet all have worsened since the onset of the pandemic.
Fall tells the story of two people, who represent thousands of citizens across Portugal, drawing attention to the pandemic of poverty that we will see continue long after the virus has gone. In co-production with EAPN Portugal – European Anti Poverty Network – this short film has continued the work developed with the Local Citizens Councils throughout 2020. CLCs (the Portuguese abbreviation) are groups that bring together citizens who live or experience situations of poverty and/or social exclusion.
Using MEXE’s methodology, participatory procedures were developed in the design and implementation of the project, meaning that the script has been jointly constructed and written with the communities it represents, evolving further in the recordings, and opening up space for a participative interpretation, production and post-production.
The screening of Fall will be accompanied by a facilitated after talk, sparking wider discussion about how the pandemic has only exacerbated problems like poverty and inequality of opportunity for those in lower socio-economic and younger communities, making it an essential and timely viewing for ICAF 2023.
About
The MEXE Associação Cultural (MEXE) is a non-profit association that organises a meeting point in the context of the Portuguese national and international cultural panorama. Their programme creates space for the appreciation and dissemination of artistic projects that cross different languages and communities and are based on the dialogue between creation, public space, and civic participation.