João Niza Ribeiro’s latest film, Vermelhos do Asfalto (Asphalt Reds), is currently in post-production. Shot in Porto, with support from Filmaporto’s Neves Grant, the short film follows the experience of an illegal immigrant and reflects on the dynamics of capitalism and migration in contemporary Europe.
The story follows Omar, a young Senegalese man who works as a courier in Porto, during the course of June 24, 2022 — a day marked by a violent episode at the Morocco–Spain border in Melilla, where thousands of migrants tried to enter the Spanish enclave and were brutally repressed by the police.
The story was inspired by this true event, which echoes throughout the film like an open wound. ‘At the time, I was filming in Guinea-Bissau and the images I saw that morning violently contrasted with my conversations with various people, who were telling me their stories, hopes and dreams,’ recalls João Niza Ribeiro. ‘Seeing Europe respond with deadly violence to the exodus that it has caused, and treating people like mere statistics, gave rise to what later became Vermelhos do Asfalto.’
Through various narratives that converge into one, Vermelhos do Asfalto points the finger at the European Union’s migration policies. The director adds: ‘While pamphlets and propaganda call for an area of inclusion, we continue to pay buffer states for every migrant who doesn’t enter European soil’. At the same time, the film explores questions of absence. ‘What does it mean to migrate? What does it mean to leave a familiar space and sever ties, by travelling huge distances across territories?’ the director asks, emphasising that violence against migrants is not limited to June 24, 2022, but is a daily reality.
With Porto as the setting and a living character of the story, the short film travels through neighbourhoods such as Bonfim, Campanhã and Antas, and features non-professional actors together with Francisco de Oliveira, who plays Omar.
Photos © Ana Meleiro
