É NA TERRA NAO É NA LUA

There are only 440 inhabitants in the one town, and one plane three times a week. Once a whaling outpost, the island of Corvo in the Azores remains an isolated place, experiencing the usual loss of traditions such as weaving and sheepherding. A poetic travelogue on the remote mid-Atlantic island, É na terra não é na lua is a natural follow- up to director Tocha’s previous docu, Balaou, though here he's focused on outer rather than inner exploration. The film initially sets out to chronicle every inhabitant and tree on the small island (approximately 4 miles by 2.5 miles), but Tocha quickly decides on a narrower focus to explore the nature of the place. Clearly the helmer and his composer/soundman, Dídio Pestana, overcame any resistance to outsiders and got to know everyone on Corvo; the results, divided into 14 chapters, form a beautiful meditation on community, isolation and time’s passing. (Jay Weissberg)