Santiago

Santiago is an unusual film. Because reality hides its face, it never ceases to haunt the image, the obscure setting of a tragedy that no-one suspected, least of all the filmmaker. At the outset, João Salles’ intention was to capture on film the memories of his family’s butler, whose culture and talented singing and dancing always fascinated him as a child. He filmed Santiago at the family home, but never completed the film. That was in 1992. Santiago died and João Salles decides to finish his film: only then does Santiago come alive to tell a very different story from the one the author had imagined. The tables turn, and it is no longer Santiago at the centre of the image, but the filmmaker. (Yann Lardeau)