A short documentary film about the staircase of Cidade de Manchester Street, in Arroios, made by two film students.
The Street Where No Cars Pass is a short documentary-style film presented by two film students from Lusófona University. André Bento and Henrique Oliveira share a look at the staircase of Cidade de Manchester Street, in Arroios.
"We were proposed to make a documentary in which we captured the spirit of a place"says André, by e-mail, to Lisboa Para Pessoas. "The staircase attracted us because it is both a representative monument of Lisbon, unknown to tourists and many Lisboners, because it is a beautiful but mostly transitory place, and, above all, because it is a small neighborhood in itself." André lives in Arroios and says he loves his neighborhood, and the steps of Cidade de Manchester Street have always captivated him on his daily commute.
"I love all of its details and the sense of community there. We wanted to capture that."says about the choice of the staircase. "A big part of that sense of community and uniqueness is due to the fact that the street has adapted to its exceptional situation: it is and always will be impossible for cars to pass there. That makes it unique, and that's why people decided to take care of it. That's where the name of the documentary came from."
They filmed for three days. "Mornings, afternoons, and evenings." André points out that "shooting a documentary is difficult" because, unlike fiction, it doesn't have everything studied and planned. "Here we had to capture the spontaneous. And for that we needed time, and for people to no longer be strangers to our presence." The documentary adopts an observational style, without intervention of the directors in the action, but also poetic through, for example, the option for black and white. "Since the street is such a beautiful place full of color, we wanted the true spirit of the street to shine through in a deeper way. For that we would have to focus on the people and the everyday life. On the small actions, on the unique beauty, not just the aesthetic beauty."
In essence, says André, this documentary "is our love letter to a beautiful part of our city. Our love letter to a place that also gives us love back, every time we pass by there, and reminds us that this is important.".
