CIBA premieres today a film about Nuno Álvares Pereira, the Constable

A film about the life of Nuno Álvares Pereira, the Constable, premieres today at the Battle of Aljubarrota Interpretation Centre (CIBA), in São Jorge, in the municipality of Porto de Mós, in the district of Leiria.

On the day that marks 655 years since the birth of Nuno Álvares Pereira, CIBA debuts the commission made to Johan Schelfhout: a production to be part of the museum's programme, with daily exhibitions accessible during the normal visit.

"In this film we will get to know who Nuno Álvares Pereira really is, not only the military man, but also the political man with power and finally, at the end of his life, the religious man", explained the Belgian director to the Lusa news agency.

Schelfhout, who has already directed 'The Battle of Aljubarrota' (2008), shown at CIBA, and 'Battle of Atoleiros' (2010), for the Battle of Atoleiros Interpretation Centre, in Fronteira, in the district of Portalegre, responded to the challenge of filming a proposed biography of Nuno Álvares Pereira.

"What we are trying to convey is that he was an exceptional figure, always called the 'right-hand man' of D. João [I], but the two always had their eyes crossed and shared this great adventure in the new Avis dynasty."

Complementing 'The Battle of Aljubarrota', 'Nuno Álvares Pereira' reveals "a pivotal person in the history of Portugal", who became "the second richest man in Portugal, only behind D. João himself".

"These are things that, obviously, we don't always talk about, and there was even an argument about it with the king himself. Here we are telling all of this", anticipates Johan Schelfhout.

The director hopes that visitors will "understand a little more about what life was like in the Middle Ages", when "there were many things that were similar to our time", such as "the power game, which also existed".

Although this is a story marked by many battles, there is a message that Schelfhout highlights, associated with the end of Nuno Álvares Pereira's life:

"It is important to understand this spiritual path and to understand that violence is not necessarily the solution to everything. And that salvation comes through religion and not through acts of war", he considers, referring to the man who, in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI canonized as Saint Nuno of Santa Maria.

The film was shot at the Monastery and Castle of Alcobaça, in the district of Leiria, and at the Alter Stud Farm, in the district of Portalegre, involving a cast that includes actors such as Gonçalo Waddington, as Nuno Álvares Pereira, Nuno Nunes, who plays D. João I, Elmano Sancho, as João das Regras, or João Lagarto, in the role of Gil Airas.

On Monday, at the premiere of 'Nuno Álvares Pereira', António Ramalho, chairman of the board of directors of the Fundação Batalha de Aljubarrota (FBA), responsible for CIBA, considered that the Constable "is, in our imagination, in the imagination of all Portuguese people, a symbol of audacity, a symbol of courage, a symbol of boldness and a symbol of results".

At CIBA, which annually receives "350 schools and around 20 thousand students", "it would be impossible for the Batalha de Aljubarrota Foundation not to add to the Batalha Real film, which we have here, a new film dedicated to Nuno Álvares Pereira".

The production, added António Ramalho, is 45 minutes long, "exactly the time that this battle lasted, which was so decisive, not for Portugal, not just for Europe, but above all for the world".

At CIBA, the person responsible for FBA also announced the opening, "next month", of another project of the foundation: the Interpretation Center of the Battle of Restoration.

In Borba, in the district of Évora, the new space will be dedicated to the period between 1578 and 1668, from the loss of independence to the Restoration, with emphasis on the Battle of Montes Claros, between Estremoz and Vila Viçosa, fought on June 17, 1665, the last of a series of battles that guaranteed sovereignty to Portugal.

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