Goní§alo Tocha
Arte Institute interviewed director Gonçalo Tocha at the NY screening of his movie “É na Terra, Não É na Lua”.
The remote island of Corvo is the westernmost point of continental Europe, a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Accompanied by his soundman/composer Dídio Pestana, filmmaker Tocha arrived at this isolated former whaling outpost (population 440) intending “to film everything we can. . . to try to be everywhere at the same time.” The patient attempt to fulfill this impossible task resulted in the most generous, quixotic, and quietly magical of anthropological projects.
It’s the Earth Not the Moon is raptly fascinated with all aspects of life on Corvo: labor and leisure, customs and rituals, current politics and the myths of the past.
The film was awarded Best Feature at the DocLisboa Film Festival, and Special Mention, Filmmakers of the Present at the Locarno Film Festival.