João Mário Grilo presented his documentary, “O Tapete Voador”

1 May 2010

Director João Mário Grilo presented his film on the tradition of Persian carpets on April 26, 2010, at UT Austin.

Film director and author João Mário Grilo visited Austin in April 2010 to present a screening of his 2008 documentary “O Tapete Voador,” known in English as “The Flying Carpet.” Filmed in Isfahan, Iran, the film examines the cultural traditions of Persian carpet making. Grilo, who is also an associate professor in the Communication Sciences Department, Social and Human Sciences Faculty, New University of Lisbon, led a discussion with the audience at the conclusion of the film. He answered questions and described his experiences filming in Iran. Chale Nafus, director of programming for the Austin Film Society (AFS), attended the screening with many other members of the Austin filmmaking and academic communities. Earlier in April, AFS presented a series of contemporary Portuguese films in its Essential Cinema series. Nafus praised the film and said, “Grilo takes us into a world we still know so little about — present-day Iran. I was particularly impressed with his ability to get us into the lives of the women weavers… [he] is a perfect example of a global filmmaker, who goes outside his own country to discover connections between ancient cultures and his own.”

Article below posted on April 1, 2010.

Director's Screening: Portuguese Documentary, "O Tapete Voador"

O TAPETE VOADOR (THE FLYING CARPET)
A documentary by Portuguese filmmaker João Mário Grilo
April 26, 7:30 pm
University of Texas at Austin, CMA 3.120

Persian carpets entered Europe via Portugal to establish one of the most important cultural traditions in terms of decorative arts in the West. Five hundred years later, we returned to Iran to discover their original gestures of fabrication and the hypnotic forms and colors that still maintain all their freshness and fascination.

The film is structured in four voyages + one, from geometry to nature, from knotting to abrash (the natural way a color fades and shades). In reality, it’s a film about itself and maybe about art in general and its infinite and immemorial landscapes. At the end it will reveal the mystery of the real “flying carpet”, the one through which so many people have flown as they fly today through the screen (a mobile carpet) and experience its magical powers.

O TAPETE VOADOR (2008, 56 min.) was filmed in Esfahan, Iran. João Mário Grilo is a Portuguese film director, author, and associate professor at the Communication Sciences Department, Social and Human Sciences Faculty of the New University of Lisbon (UNL). His other work includes the 1992 O FIM DO MUNDO (THE END OF THE WORLD, 1992) and 451 FORTE (2000).