Comments: Rita Serra (CES-UC researcher)

Synopsis: Monoculture of eucalyptus trees is one of the main causes of the fire in Pedrógão Grande (Portugal), which in June 2017 caused numerous victims and the destruction of 53,000 hectares of wooded area. From the testimonies of the survivors and a journalist to the analysis of the zootechnical and environmental engineer João Camargo, that with extreme precision combines history, topicality, botany, climatology and economy,  Deserto Verde (2018; 59 min) depicts the environmental and social risks of a monoculture forestry policy. That is why the story of those who have reconverted their village in the name of biodiversity is even more precious, seeking a solution to change ruinous and inadequate paradigms.

ParaDocma, of PARAdigm, of DOCumentary and DOgMA, is an initiative that brings together several groups and local organisations, an Itinerant Cinema Series that will journey through the city of Coimbra with the aim of promoting the “study of the home”, in this case, producing dialogue on pressing ecological issues in various spaces of the city of Coimbra. It is a travelling event because it intends to disseminate the associative spaces and the public spaces of the city to the population and, thus, to know the local material and immaterial resources.

This is the sixth session of the second edition of ParaDocma, an initiative jointly organised by Casa da Esquina, the Coimbra em Transição (CeT) Association, Cine Eco Seia and the Ecology and Society Workshop of the Centre for Social Studies/UC with other local organisations. We have the privilege of having Cine Eco Seia, the main environmental film festival in Portugal, as a partner and having free screening rights to award-winning films in Coimbra. In this edition, the sessions will be mainly at Casa da Esquina and between January and June 2019 there will be at least two sessions in two other venues, with at least one outdoor session.