Senhora Aparecida

In the Portuguese village of Senhora Aparecida, an industrial area near Oporto, the annual festival that takes place every 15th of August is being prepared. The biers that reach fifteen meters high and which are carried by 70 men are being erected and decorated. The penitents order the coffins that will carry them, in a procession, to the chapel as is the secular tradition. The Portuguese film crew arrives with the intention of filming this spectacular festival. However, another dramatic story is about to unfold and the filmmakers are there to document events as they happen. 

A new, young priest arrives to take over their parish and he has his own ideas about how religion should be practiced in the town. He is "modern" (in one scene we can see his desk top computer in the background). He wants to put an end to the coffins procession. Conflict is inevitable. Strikingly filmed with a sense of tension which captured the drama inherent in the situation, Senhora Aparecida has been singled out for attention at many international film festivals.