Nisa, a small town nestled in Portugal’s interior, had a unique expression in Portuguese culture, where traditionally, girls from the age of six, would make embroideries working for years to create a bridal trousseau, which would then be sold on the eve of their wedding. With the money made from the sale, the bride would purchase, through her own means, a house for the newlywed couple.
Nowadays, young girls are not interested in learning how to embroider, and the laborious techniques typical of Nisa are sadly becoming obsolete. What impact will “Valquiria Enxoval” a sculpture 16 meters in length of the artist Joana Vasconcelos will have on the survival and the socio-cultural significance of this special kind of embroidery, for the future of this town?
“The Bottom Drawer” it is not a film about Joana Vasconcelos, or an anthropological survey about the handicraft techniques of Nisa, but a documentary about contaminations. Time, space and identity are the main concepts of the film.
Director: Pedro Macedo
Executive Producer: Kitty Oliveira
Script and Interviews: Isabel Freire
Director of Photography: Pedro Macedo
Music: Norberto Lobo
Sound: Olivier Blanc / Filipe Tavares
Sound Mixing: Filipe Tavares
Editor: Micael Espinha
Motion Design: Pedro Rodrigues
Post-Production Video: Rough Cut
Produced by: FRAMED FILMS