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A Portuguese Village’s Struggle Against a Lithium Mining Giant Takes Center Stage at Cannes in Paulo Carneiro’s ‘Savanna and the Mountain’

Carneiro's third feature documents the David-and-Goliath struggle between villagers in Covas de Barroso and London-based Savannah Resources.

The film depicts a David-and-Goliath struggle between rural folk from Covas de Barroso in the North of Portugal and London-based Savannah Resources, which plans to build Europe’s biggest open-air lithium mine. “A lot of people have been writing about the struggle against this lithium mining project, including several doctoral theses, and we suddenly realized that it might be good for them to have some film content,” explains Carneiro. The Western theme is reflected in the lettering used in the film’s titles, the use of music and guns and a final scene in which one of the main characters gallops towards us on a white horse with the sound of fireworks resounding in the distance.

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