At the beginning of the 60’s, thousands of Portuguese turned up in France through the underground. They were fleeing misery, war and repression. Left to unscrupulous smugglers, they had to cross the Iberian Peninsula tracked by the Portuguese and Spanish police. For many, the voyage towards France turned into a disaster. As a child in a shantytown, the author remembers having heard about these terrible odysseys. Thirty years later, he goes in search of the stories of his childhood and seeks to understand what sparked this unprecedented emigration known as the “plebiscite by foot” against Salazar. Between childhood memories and historical investigation, he looks for the images of this exodus, the largest in post-war Europe.
A production by La Huit, Animais, Les Films de la Mémoire, RTBF Bruxelles, RTP, Téléssonne
Additional Information
Career
Festivals and Awards
Chemins du Cinéma Portugais | France | Best Documentary |
Festival International du Film d’Amiens | France | Prix Planète |
Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival | Portugal | Prix d’Honneur des Ciné Clubs |
Broadcasts
RTBF | Belgium |
RTP | Portugal |
Télésonne | France |
Watch the French Teaser of The Picture Divided on Vimeo
The Film
Film Reviews
Press Comments
Télérama
"Au début des années 60, des milliers de Portugais fuient la dictature de Salazar. Elles renvoient aujourd'hui à l'actualité d'autres hommes auxquels ce film, aussi juste que sensible, rend un hommage universel. "
Michel Abescat
2004Les Inrockuptibles
Émaillé d'images d'archives et de tranches de vie saisissantes, ce film à l'écriture soignée est d'autant plus poignant qu'il est soumis à une mise en abyme subjective : José Vieira a lui-même quitté le Portugal à l'âge de sept ans.
E.C.
2004Le Figaro
Autant dans l'investigation historique que dans le sentiment personnel, José Vieira fait ressortir, avec la force de son émotion et la richesse de sa documentation, toutes les violences et les ombres de ce douloureux exode (...).