WE ALL HAVE AMALIA IN OUR BLOOD
“People always say that fados are sad. But they simply accept sadness as part of life. There is room for both sadness AND joy in a fado. Fados turn them into art. Or into light. The light at the end of the tunnel.” Fadista Cuca Roseta
When Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues passed away in October 1999, three days of national mourning were declared. On the day of her funeral, an endless stream of people followed her coffin through the streets of Lisbon. Amália Rodrigues was “the voice of Portugal”. A legend in her own lifetime.
The documentary film WE ALL HAVE AMÁLIA IN OUR BLOOD recalls the immortal queen of the fado, explores why millions of people were able to identify with her singing and introduces the women who seek to follow in her footsteps: fadistas in Lisbon today who know and love Amália’s songs. Even outside Portugal – in places like Berlin and Paris – there are artists who embrace the melancholy and yearning inherent to fado singing, creating their own interpretations and keeping the fado spirit alive.
Film-maker Hilka Sinning delves into Amália’s world and meets artists like Mariza, Cuca Roseta, Diana Vilarinho, Ricardo Ribeiro, Lizzie Levée and Maria Carvalho – all with a view to investigating the secret of the fado and its enduring fascination.
Director Hilka Sinning
DoP Timm Lange, Olivier Azpitarte, Ion Casado
Editor Christian Becker
Sound Johnny Farah, Lukas Muganga, Franck Ortega
sound mix ping tonstudios
colour correction Dany Schelby
graphics / title Thomas Schmidl
achive research Vanessa Christoffers-Trinks
Scout Lisbon Claus Ruegner
Assistant editor Sebastian Steimel
Producer Monika Mack
Producer / managing director Birgit Schulz Bildersturm Filmproduktion
Commissioning editors WDR Martin Bürkl / Christian Nurtsch-Wesener
A Bildersturm Filmproduktion production on behalf of WDR in co-production with ARTE
2021
