Slow Return — Philip Cartelli, 2021

(80’, FR/US, with Portuguese subtitles)

Friday 12 September 2025, 6.30pm | Cineteatro Camacho Costa, Odemira

From the port of Salin-de-Giraud, on the Mediterranean coast, Slow Return begins a journey upstream along the Rhône River to its spring in the Swiss Alps. The film follows the river’s course through changing landscapes and communities, weaving together fragments of memory, traces of history, and the visible marks of climate change.

At the glacier’s edge, people fight its melting with protective cloths, while tourists carefully step onto what remains of the ice. Further down, a wooden pole still indicates the glacier’s reach in 1874 — a spot where today a hotel stands. Between these two extremes, Slow Return draws a contemplative portrait of the Rhône, exploring how landscapes carry within them a common heritage of dependence, exploitation, and resilience.

More information here.

The Doc’s Kingdom Sessions in Odemira take place throughout 2025 in anticipation of the seminar, this time in dialogue with Fulgores do Rio — riverine screenings, by Cinema Fulgor, from 9 to 31 September 2025.