22.04. ‐ 27.04.2025
Living Bad

Living Bad (Viver Mal)

João Canijo

Tensions simmer among the guests of an old hotel in Portugal. We follow one couple whose rocky relationship is hurt by obsession with social media. Our eyes drift towards another couple shaken by the towering presence of one of their mothers. We eavesdrop on another couple starting out and threatened by jealousy. João Canijo constructs a tale of lust and disappointment in LIVING BAD, proving that loving is a path full of thorns.

More information Lichter FilmfestLichter Filmfest

Direction João Canijo
Country Portugal, France
Year 2023
Duration 125 min
Language Portuguese with English subtitles
Production Joana Carneiro Reis, Pedro Borges
Co-production François D’Artemare
Cast Nuno Lopes, Filipa Areosa, Leonor Silveira, Rafael Morais, Lia Carvalho
Camera Leonor Teles
Script João Canijo
Editing João Braz
Sound Tiago Raposinho
Sound Design Elsa Ferreira


Berlinale 2023

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About the Director

João Canijo started his career as an assistant director to Manoel de Oliveira, Wim Wenders, Alain Tanner and Werner Schroeter. His feature debut, Três menos eu, opened the Rotterdam Film Festival in 1988. Since then, he has made over ten feature films that have been regularly presented in the Cannes, Venice and Toronto competitions. Sangue do meu sangue received the Fipresci Award in San Sebastián and the Grand Jury Prize at the Miami Film Festival, among others. João Canijo has been honored with numerous retrospectives in Busan, La Rochelle and Buenos Aires, among others. (Berlinale)

The Director About the Film

“The location of the film is fundamental in bringing the project’s intentions to fruition, as it could only happen somewhere from which no escape was possible. A place where the actresses are forced to be alone and with each other, even if they wish to run away. A place that the characters’ life depends on. The choice was a remote hotel by the Portuguese shore, which functions like a prison, since the characters can’t leave.

The actresses don’t transform, they adapt to the situation and the circumstances of the characters, without ceasing to be the same people. The screenplay was created over two years of discussions and rehearsals with the actresses, in order to get the truth from each of them.”



International Feature Film Program

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