Film about Portuguese guitarist Zé Pedro wins best documentary award at LA punk film festival
LOS ANGELES - The film “Zé Pedro Rock 'n' Roll,” by Portuguese filmmaker Diogo Varela Silva, has won the award for Best International Documentary at the Los Angeles punk film festival, the jury announced on Wednesday.
The recognition at the LA Punk Film Festival constitutes the 17th award presented to the film that portrays the life and work of guitarist Zé Pedro, founder of Portuguese rock band Xutos & Pontapés and driving force behind punk, who died in 2017.
“I'm sure this was the award that Zé Pedro would like the most, because this is the festival that makes sense for someone like him,” director Diogo Varela Silva told Lusa news agency, admitting he was not expecting to see the film win.
“I am very happy that the film is getting so many audiences and so many festivals. I always thought Zé Pedro was ‘something more ours’,” stressed the Portuguese director.
The film, which premiered in Portuguese cinemas in July 2020, is on its way to international audiences through a deal that is being negotiated.
“Things are well on track for distribution in the United States,” Diogo Varela Silva told Lusa, highlighting the positive “expectation” with which the documentary’s author finds himself.
The news of the victory in the LA Punk Film Festival was celebrated also by those who were closer to the Portuguese musician, according to the director.
“Zé's various families, his sisters, nephews, his wife Cristina, who have always followed the film’s journey closely, are all happy to see this recognition,” he said. “Above all it is a recognition of his life.”
In the official selection, the festival described the impact the guitarist had on the Portuguese music scene: “Zé Pedro, the legendary guitarist of Xutos & Pontapés, is the biggest name in Portuguese rock 'n' roll,” it described.
“He was its biggest driving force, not only as the founding guitarist of the best Portuguese band ever, but also by promoting the genre as a music critic, broadcaster and owner of Johnny Guitar, a mythical club and concert hall in Lisbon, where so many bands took their first steps.”