The Solar – Cinematic Art Gallery has become, both national and international-wise, a reference in experimentation within an artistic field situated between cinema and the other arts, where film questions and reinvents itself at the intersection with different artistic expressions. In this expanded arena, a wide range of exhibit offerings has been presented, in which a powerful relationship between the works on display and the specificity of the existing architectural space stands out. That is the place we find ourselves in and to which we return every year, particularly during the exhibits inaugurated in tandem with Curtas Vila do Conde. This opportunity allows a more complete program to be conceived, articulating the exhibition in the gallery with a parallel film programme, Q&A’s, or guided tours by the artists taking place during the festival. Over the past few years, we have been challenging filmmakers, whose work has been developed essentially in the film arena, to conceive and develop original proposals, designed exclusively for Solar’s space. Such were the cases of Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2006), Peter Tscherkassky (2006), or duo João Pedro Rodrigues and João Guerra da Mata (2016).

Be Your Selfie results from a new challenge presented to Diogo Costa Amarante, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2017 Berlinale, to create an exhibition-oriented project conceived purposefully for Solar. The director, with an important and recognized short film work, has a strong connection with Curtas’ recent history. The exhibit’s concept was based on a series of materials filmed by Diogo Costa Amarante during vacation trips and other leisurely moments, from which he gathered a set of 13 video-pieces that challenge Solar’s visitors to undertake a journey in between the gallery space and the elements presented in the different videos. The path designed for the video-pieces display offers the viewer differentiated relations through both isolated projections and other where the images are contaminated, providing a surprising and fun-filled experience based on a design that amazes visitors. Parallel to the exhibit, a film programme will be presented during Curtas, at Vila do Conde’s Teatro Municipal, which includes a national première of “A Present Light”, recently featured at the Berlinale short film competition, as well as a Carte Blanche to the filmmaker, with which he selected a surprising group of movies, from different periods of both art and film history, which establish a series of connections with the creative process of the exhibit designed for Solar. Also during Curtas, Diogo Costa Amarante will be part of an open Q&A and will offer a guided tour of the Be Your Selfie exhibit.