A cinematic journey through the world of Pedro COSTA, the Portuguese master filmmaker, unfolds in Sacavém. Julio ALVES intuitively rearranges the stills and soundtracks from COSTA’s films made over 20 years, from Down to Earth to Ossos, In Vanda’s Room, Colossal Youth, and Horse Money. Sacavém is not a conventional documentary about an artist and his works. Instead of a friendly guide for COSTA and his films, ALVES rearranges the inspiration he receives from COSTA’s films, foregrounds the material elements of that process, and carries out an experiment on sound and images. COSTA happily participates in the experiment. There is no conventional interview scene in the film, and COSTA hides and dissolves himself in his works, only appearing on screen in an unidentifiable manner or simply as a voice. The pleasure of peeking at the laptop, photographs, digital camera, and copies of 33mm films in COSTA’s office leads us to feel and appreciate his works. Julio ALVES makes his debut with this avant-garde film essay full of cinematic inspirations. (KANG Sowon)