TNC Archive 2021
Interview
Pedro Augusto
Almeida
The Sea No Longer Stops Here
Originally published for 3rd PRFF 2021
Dec 26, 2023
A clam picker and his friend spend the morning collecting up the bounty of the tide. The day is full of surprises.
Hi Pedro thank you for talking to TNC, how are you holding up during these very strange times?
Hi! Thank you for this opportunity. From March to September the situation was very delicate for me. I lost all the incomes on the jobs I had as a freelancer. Fortunately, a new opportunity has come in the past months, and I’m, slowly, getting my life back together again.
Has this time offered you any creative inspiration?
Yes, it offered me time. Time much needed to finish my new short film and time to finish other projects I had in mind.
Congratulations on having your film selected for the 3rd Papaya Rocks Film Festival, what does it mean to you to be part of such an amazing line-up of short films?
I’m very happy, so is my team. It’s a pleasure and an honour, to be part of this film festival.
Can you tell me a little bit about The Sea No Longer Stops Here, how did this film come about?
This film was shot in the summer of 2018. The original idea was that this film would be a feature film, my first. Unfortunately, due to personal problems related to our protagonist, the plans we had to shoot for several days were reduced to just two days of shooting.
What where the biggest challenges you faced bringing your film to life?
The biggest difficulty was to free myself from the bonds of disappointment, for not being able to make a feature film, as I initially intended. Not being able to do it as I wanted, also started to affect my mental health, not only because of the disappointment, but because I invested a lot of money, time, and effort, to single produced it and directed it, and in the end I didn't achieve my goal. Almost two years passed since I shot the film, and the challenge, with the time “given” by the pandemic, become do something with the images I had made.
"The mistakes made in this film, or what I would do differently, will serve as a learning process for the artistic creation and development of the next film."
Looking back is there anything you would have done differently on this film?
What is done, is done. The mistakes made in this film, or what I would do differently, will serve as a learning process for the artistic creation and development of the next film.
Describe your film in three words? Close, Eco, Conscience.
Where did your passion for film-making come from?
I discovered the true form of Cinema by accident. I didn't know what to choose when I went to university, and, by chance, I went to study Video and Documentary Cinema. I decided to give it a try for one week, and then change to another degree, Photography, witch was a topic I started to and give it a real try. Ten years had passed, I’ve made eight short-film, I had the like in that summer before. Luckily in that first week, I really liked what I’ve heard from the teachers, and I decided to stay opportunity to be part of the crew of several films, and I’ve been working, with passion, in the industry, since then.
What has been some of the best advice you’ve been give?
One of the best advices that I’ve been given belongs to my physical education teacher in high school. He told me, in a very polite and worried way, that if I continued to miss my classes that I would fail the year. And that, in addition to a heartbreak from my parents, would affect my life in many, many ways. Luckily I’ve heard him. Thank you teacher! Don't miss school!
Should film-makers continue to push the boundaries of the films and stories they want to tell?
Of course. The process of making films was never this democratic. We just need, like in any art form, perseverance, hard-work, and a good familiar/friends support, to help us keep pushing those boundaries.
Do you have any tips or advice you would offer a fellow film-maker?
Make films with your close friends. It’s what I’ve been doing in the last 10 years, and I can say it’s the best support, motivation, and satisfaction that you can have inside and industry that is still full with old school, pain in the ass, people.
And finally, what do you hope people will take away from your film?
1. I believe they are many stories and this short film that people can take some minutes to think of:
2. Fisherman's can be eco-conscient, since the opposite is still a social stigma in our society.
Bad days of harvesting are more common and are more close to what we think.
3. Global warming is affecting them and us.
4. Any sea-life must be protected, especially when excess harvest exists and it’s reported and known.