Our filming for the first season of the RTPi/RTP1/RDP show “Hora dos Portugueses” wrapped up in February. Since November, we have produced 17 three-minutes & 5 eight-minutes segments, featuring Connie Freitas & Nancy Fernandes (Saudade); Paul Azevedo (Playlist Co.); Sandy Miranda (Fucked Up); Hélder Moutinho, Consul-General Luis Barros, Hêrnani Raposo and Ilda Januário (Fado in the diaspora); Ana Paula Ribeiro, Manuela Marujo and Maria João Dodman (Portuguese language education); Rick Coelho et al. (Casa da Madeira); Mike Rita; Nuno Cristo; Sónia Neves et al. (On Your Mark); Miguel Domingos and Alberto Moniz (Banda do Sagrado Coração de Jesus); Odete Nascimento and Isabel Palmar (Older Adult Centre – West Neighbourhood House); Ana Bailão; Basilio, Bela and Gabriel Ferreira (Ménage); Anthony de Sa; Dale Brazão (Toronto Star); George Pimentel; and Hélder Ramos (Little Portugal & Dundas West BIAs).
Our team – Pedro Rodrigues, Gilberto Fernandes, Luis Moreira and Daniela Costa – sends a big thank you to all the interviewees who agreed to participate in this production. It was a pleasure getting to know you and your projects and helping to tell your stories. Here are some “behind the scenes” photos we took in the making of this first season.
Meanwhile, filming for the second season has already begun. While still based in Toronto, we are hoping to take this show on the road throughout Ontario, to Montreal and parts of British Columbia. Our goal remains to showcase the diversity of Portuguese-Canadian experiences in the 21st century within the context of their collective history, focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on the Canadian-born or -raised generation; shed light on both traditional and modern aspects of Portuguese-Canadian culture and public life; and divulge interesting work being done by individuals or organizations at the heart or on the fringes of Portuguese and mainstream Canadian communities. This season we will explore themes not discussed in the first 17 episodes, keeping with our documentarian/ researcher interest in the complexities of “Portuguese” identity and how it is shaped by location, class, gender, race, sexuality, generation, religion and other sometimes conflicting solidarities.
Portuguese Canadian History Project | Projeto de História Luso Canadiana 