Editor's note: The Standard-Times went to Seattle to cover Sunday night's world premiere of "Passionada," the movie filmed in New Bedford a year ago. This fourth and final report takes readers to the premiere itself, which occurred too late to include in yesterday's dispatch.

By ROBERT LOVINGER, Standard-Times staff writer

Helena Marques, director of the Immigrants' Assistance Center in New Bedford, gives a thumbs-up to "Passionada" director Dan Ireland after the premiere of the film Sunday night during the closing-night gala of the Seattle International Film Festival.

SEATTLE -- "Passionada," a love poem to New Bedford, made its debut Sunday, the closing night of the Seattle International Film Festival. Aglow with the warmth of romance, community and vivid sunsets over Buzzards Bay, the movie is a Portuguese New Bedford fairy tale. "It does a lot for New Bedford. You guys are going to be overrun with tourists," said Seattle resident Tracy Klinkroth, who lived in Somerville for a time. "It's a nice little chick flick. If that came out, I'd definitely see it."

Helena Marques, director of New Bedford's Immigrants' Assistance Center, came here for the world premiere and loved it. She believes the city's Portuguese will feel proud of the movie. But some had mixed feelings, complaining that the story felt forced at times and unrealistic. "I guess it was one of the better closing night films," said a Seattleite who only gave her first name, Julie. "It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but I liked the characters." Alan Brown, another local, loved the cinematography, the music and the performance of lead actress Sofia Milos. "I thought the story was a little predictable, but I really liked it."

The evening began in the lobby of the Cinerama Theatre, where "Passionada's" director, screenwriters and producers bounced nervously off knots of supporters as everyone waited to enter the theater. Closing-night gala attire ranged from jeans and T-shirts to jackets and ties. Director Dan Ireland and co-executive producer Paul Bernard wore their "New Bedford suits," custom-made when they were filming at the city's Riverside Manufacturing plant.

Before the lights went down, Mr. Ireland, who co-founded this festival 27 years ago, spoke to the audience. "Wow. To be in the Cinerama Theatre tonight. Darryl (festival chief Macdonald) and I drove down from Vancouver to see '2001: A Space Odyssey' here. The thing is, we dropped acid and we couldn't leave the theater. "This festival is part of my heart. It's part of my soul. I love this city, and to do this world premiere here is amazing," he said. Mr. Ireland told of how he had no leading lady with one week to go before shooting was scheduled to start. "We had gone through about 50 actresses," he recounted. Flown in from Rome, Ms. Milos "walked in the door, and I looked at her and I looked at her, and there was a bubble over my head that said, 'Oh, dear God, please don't let her suck.'"

As he wrapped up his speech, the director said the movie is about thinking love can never happen to you again and then having it happen. The lights went down, the curtain pulled aside, and the film opened on a scene of New Bedford Harbor. Superimposed on the enormous Cinerama screen were the words, "New Bedford, Massachusetts. A bit of Portugal in America." Indeed, the movie may be set in the USA, but Mr. Ireland and company went out of their way to give it the feel of someplace very Old World. Early on, characters are speaking Portuguese with English subtitles, and Ms. Milos' Celia is singing fado. The film notes hard times for New Bedford fishermen. It visits the Shawmut Diner, St. Anthony's Church, the city's historic district, One Merrill's Wharf, Candleworks Restaurant and more.

Some SouthCoast eyes may see "Passionada" as more a travelogue with a love story attached than a love story set against a SouthCoast backdrop. Still, many of the roughly 40 locations used by the filmmakers didn't survive the editing room. Locals who served as extras in the film or offered their businesses as locations are eager to find out if they're in the movie.

Janet Fryzel, sales manager for Stephen & Co. Hair Designers in Dartmouth, called The Standard-Times last week. She said the filmmakers spent an entire day there and that the salon has been using that fact in their on-hold messages and advertising. "People ask us all the time, 'When's the movie coming out, and are you gonna be in it?'" she said. Ms. Fryzel asked this reporter to notice whether the salon made the cut (so to speak). Unless memory fails, it didn't.

(This is a good time for a disclosure statement: This reporter is on the thank you list in "Passionada's" closing credits, probably for giving the cast and crew occasional privacy last summer. Also, this reporter and his daughter appear briefly, if unrecognizably, in one scene.)

After the premiere, the festival threw a closing night party at the new and elegantly hip Elliott Grand Hyatt. Amid the sushi, champagne, dim sum and, naturally, Starbucks coffee, Mr. Bakalar said he'd been eavesdropping on people talking about the movie. "The general feeling is that they respond to the heart of the movie," he said. "They like it. The question is: How much do they like it?" "The buzz is just starting," he said earlier in the weekend, referring to the fact that now the task will be to market and sell the movie to a distributor. "I don't think anything definitive will happen here. It's more: 'Here I am.'"

Mr. Bakalar and company will be responding to inquiries and contacting potential buyers. The questions of when "Passionada" will be released and when it screens in New Bedford are still up in the air. The movie could head next for the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September. The eventual distributor could push a general release into 2003, Mr. Bakalar noted.

Helena Marques cut to the chase. She wanted to let people back home -- especially the Portuguese -- know that they're in for an emotional experience. "Tell them to bring tissues."

This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on June 18, 2002.

Back to latest news stories

Back to "Passionada" index