Thursday, October 12, Doors open at 6:30 PM | Film at 6:45 PM (21 mins)

In collaboration with the New Bedford Whaling Museum, FABRIC Arts Festival presents Mátria with Catarina Gonçalves. A sensorial journey to the womb of the São Miguel Island where Natália Correia, a Portuguese poet, writer, and congresswoman, was born exactly 100 years ago. “Mátria” is made in her honor as three women embody her spirit in different ways through an exploration of the female body in different stages of life. A film about freedom of both mind and body, where Natália’s timeless poetry entangles both reality and fiction.

Catarina Gonçalves (Azores, 1999) is a film director and visual artist that works with both documentary and fiction, as well as installation and video-art. Her work revolves around the idea of personal and collective memory, in a very intimate sense and often related to the female body, reflecting upon ideas like sacrifice, possession and ownership. Her first documentary short film, Mãos de Prata (2020) won the third prize on the Prémios Sophia Estudante, organized by the Portuguese Cinema Academy and the first prize in the Concordia Film Festival (Montreal, Canada), it was also selected for several festivals such as Festival de Curtas de Vila do Conde (Vila do Conde, Portugal), Porto Post Doc and for the Prémios Sophia of the Portuguese Cinema Academy. Her installation piece, Light Years (2022), was just shown in the Walk&Talk Arts Festival (Azores) as a winner of the Artistic Residency for Young Creators. Her most recent short film, "Mátria," is about the late Portuguese writer, poet, and congresswoman, Natália Correia, organized by the Cara Lavada collective from the Azores.

Registration is required, admission is free.