Working on the Douro River

Manoel de Oliveira's debut; the short lyrical documentary called Labor on the Douro River, is a portrait honouring the director's native town of Porto that lies in the Douro River valley. The film captures the local people and their everyday life in the scope of a single day. The rhytmised impressive takes and dynamic editing evoke the then po­pular genre of city symphonies, especially Ruttmann's milestone Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927), whose legacy Oliveira openly acknowledges. (Summer Film School)