Two Times João Liberada

Q&A with Paula Tomás Marques on April 7 & 8

There are so many movies about movies that one might wonder what’s left to say. Yet self-reflecting cinema finds new form in Two Times João Liberada, which charts the production of a biopic about Liberada (a gender-nonconforming nun who faced persecution during the Portuguese Inquisition) and its star, João, who’s conflicted about the job when not outright haunted by Liberada’s ghost. This is one of many bold, brilliant gestures Paula Tomás Marques makes with this feature debut that, in 70 minutes, tackles a flabbergasting number of concerns: the psychology of acting and directing, an abstract trans history, a contention with who tells what story, failed artistic ambition, and art as the means to make sense of ourselves. Two Times João Liberada forms a tapestry that’s as grand as it is intricate, with a lead performance from June João that makes emotional sense of intellectual complexity.