AS OPERAÇÕES SAAL
A FILM BY JOÃO DIAS
As Operações SAAL
GET THE FILM
DVD OR DIGITAL
AS OPERAÇÕES SAAL is the most complete, comprehensive, emotionally rich document from a critical period of the country and its recent history. In 1974/75, a housing project engaged architects and the population in a unique and revolutionary initiative. The underprivileged gained houses they built themselves, and Portuguese architecture took an unparalleled step in asserting itself at home and abroad.
STREAMING
Starting from November, the remastered digital version will be accessible in the streaming platform Filmin.
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NOW!
Portugal 2007 | 120' | Color | Doc
Plot, Direction, Editing: João Dias
Assistant Director: Leonor Noivo
Picture: Leonor Noivo, João Gomes, João Dias
Soundtrack: Vítor Rua
Editing Assist: Edgar Feldman, João Gomes
Mixing: Tiago Matos, MOS
Production: OPTEC FILMES
Producer: Abel Ribeiro Chaves
Production Director: Maria de Lurdes Oliveira
Price: 14,85€
DVD EXTRAS
PHOTO BOOKLET
Receive an exclusive 64-page photo journal filled with pictures from the harsh portuguese housing reality when you purchase the DVD.
Residents' Association May 18th
SAAL Team Oeiras/Carnaxide
HABITAT - UN DÉFI
A film by Fernando Lopes.
A documentary short film focused on the housing shortages in Portugal during that period.
A production of the Portuguese Cinema Center for the HABITAT-I conference held in Vancouver, Canada, by the United Nations on Human Settlements.
25 minutes, 1976, with English subtitles.
CINEMA CYCLE: WHERE ARE WE GOING TO LIVE?
The long-awaited release of João Dias' film 'The SAAL Operations,' in DVD and digital format, will take place at an event in Lisbon and Porto. This event not only celebrates João Dias' work but also serves as the starting point for a film series dedicated to exploring a topic that is a concern and a divisive issue in our society, which is the right to housing, something that concerns us all.
LISBON AND PORTO PREMIERE
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Screening in Cinemateca portuguesa 9th November at 18:00
Rua Barata Salgueiro 39, 1269-059 Lisboa
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Free screening in Porto, Batalha Centro de Cinema 2nd November at 17:15.
Praça da Batalha 47, 4000-101 Porto
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Consult room sheet
THE STORY BEHIND
Created on the initiative of the architect Nuno Portas while serving as Secretary of State for Housing and Urbanism of the First Provisional Government, the Local Ambulatory Support Service (SAAL - Serviço de Apoio Ambulatório Local) was a program aimed at assisting in the construction of housing promoted by Residents' Associations. Its goal was to "support initiatives of poorly housed populations in collaborating to redevelop their own neighborhoods by investing their own latent and potentially monetary resources." The Portuguese Architecture of April 25th is the SAAL - a unique movement in the history of architectural thought, which served as an example and a subject of discussion for many other projects on an international level.
Testimonials from: Álvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto Moura, Nuno Portas, Gonçalo Byrne, Alexandre Alves Costa, Nuno Teotónio Pereira,Manuel Vicente, Raúl Hestnes, José Veloso and SAAL neighboorhoods residents from South to North of the country.
THE IMPACT
DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS
“A little pearl.”
VISÃO MAGAZINE
“Immense restraint and expertise.”
MANUEL CINTRA FERREIRA
"«As Operações SAAL»: one of the most important portuguese documentaries.”
PÚBLICO ÍPSILON
“The SAAL party was beautiful, pal!”
MÁRIO CAEIRO
The combination of emotion and conceptual, procedural, and scientific rigor in 'AS OPERAÇÕES SAAL' creates a complete cultural event. The collection of scenes, some festive, others dramatic, encompasses a wide range of emotions and perceptions of the 'actors', conveying them directly to the viewer. The mythical aura of the facts remains, but becomes clearer, making the motivations behind each event interesting to the audience. The film comes to life in the debate it provokes, going beyond mere observation.
LUÍS MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
"The main strength of 'The SAAL Operations' lies in the clarity with which it addresses a specific and delimited theme, comprehending and integrating it simultaneously as part of a broader process."
DOCLISBOA
" 'AS OPERAÇÕES SAAL,' by João Dias, is an intelligent and rare research work about the generosity and effort that many invested in those years. By decision of the Secretary of State Nuno Portas, a project was launched: to build houses for the hundreds of thousands of people who lived in shacks when the dictatorship came to an end. Architects created the designs with the participation of the communities, residents built the houses, and the State covered the cost of materials."
BLOGS
THE DIRECTOR
JOÃO DIAS
After completing studies in photography and cinema, João abandoned their philosophy degree to pursue directing. He directed short films and documentaries, including "The SAAL Operations" (2009), awarded Best Documentary at the DocLisboa Festival, and the short film "The Summer" (2012), winner of the Best Photography Prize at the IndieLisboa Festival.
He gained recognition for their editing work on "Horse Money" (2014) and "Vitalina Varela" (2019) by Pedro Costa, both of which were nominated for Best Editing by the Portuguese Academy of Cinema and the Guadalajara Film Festival. They collaborated on short and feature-length films by internationally acclaimed Portuguese directors.
João taught in the Department of Film and Moving Image at ARCO from 2010 to 2019.
THE PRODUCER
ABEL RIBEIRO CHAVES
It is from a tender age the Abel Ribeiro Chaves's cinephile culture begins to define itself. With only 11 years old (1969) moves to the Azores with his father, fact that deprives him of time with his friends and television, inexistent at that time on the Azores. Cinema was the escape he found splitting his days between school and cinemas.
He stays close to film when five years later in October of 1974 returns to continental Portugal and begins to work as a cinema usher. He would not only get people in their seats but he would also try and watch the film that would be playing every time he could, again and again.
