Fátima

João Canijo started his career in Rotterdam in 1988 with Três menos eu. Thirty years later, he returns with Fátima, in which 11 women go on a pilgrimage to Fátima, a journey of 400 kilometres across Portugal. But the spiritual, 10-day journey by foot does not necessarily bring out the best in the group. Exhaustion, continual rain and differences of opinion cause tensions in the initially closed ranks. The film focuses above all on the dynamics between the women, each of whom has their own motivation and spiritual baggage as they embark on the journey.

The camera closely follows the walkers and their blisters in a calm rhythm along the long roads the women follow, sometimes in silence, sometimes singing and sometimes squabbling. And also when they arrive exhausted after a long day and the mounting dissatisfaction discharges in the cramped caravan that accompanies them. The spiritual aim seems to fade further into the background and the question is whether they will manage to reach the holy spot as a group.

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