American filmmaker Todd Haynes, one of the central figures of contemporary independent cinema, will be honoured at the 34th edition of Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival with a non-complete retrospective dedicated to his body of work.

Internationally recognised as one of the most important auteurs in American cinema of recent decades, Haynes has built a filmography marked by the constant reinvention of narrative forms, the subversion of classical cinematic codes, and a direct engagement with themes related to identity, sexuality, and cultural representation.

Throughout his career, Todd Haynes has established himself as an essential name for both critics and audiences alike, with films screened at major international festivals and multiple Academy Award nominations. Works such as Far from Heaven (2002), Carol (2015), and May December (2023) consolidated his ability to engage with the tradition of classical American cinema while appropriating and subverting its language to explore contemporary issues surrounding desire, gender, and social repression.

However, the beginning of Haynes’s career was marked by a deeply experimental and provocative spirit. Films such as Poison (1991), Safe (1995), and Velvet Goldmine (1998) challenged the dominant conventions of American cinema at the time, becoming key references in independent film and contributing to the emergence of movements such as New Queer Cinema. In particular, Poison is now regarded as one of the founding works of that movement for its radical treatment of themes previously marginalised by the film industry.

Music also occupies a central place in the director’s work. After reinventing the musical biopic in Velvet Goldmine, inspired by the glam rock universe, Haynes once again challenged the genre with I’m Not There (2007), a fragmented portrait of Bob Dylan portrayed by several actors, including Cate Blanchett. More recently, he directed the documentary The Velvet Underground (2021), dedicated to the iconic New York band.

The Curtas Vila do Conde programme also proposes a return to the filmmaker’s more underground and clandestine beginnings, revisiting some of his early short films and lesser-seen works. These include titles such as The Suicide (1978) and Dottie Gets Spanked (1993), examples of the transgressive spirit that characterised the first years of his career.

Accompanying this retrospective will also be Christine Vachon, Todd Haynes’s long-time producer and one of the most influential figures in American independent cinema. Responsible for producing most of the director’s films, Vachon has also worked on landmark works such as Kids (Larry Clark, 1995), Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998), First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2017), and Past Lives (Celine Song, 2023). Her presence at the festival will offer an opportunity to revisit an artistic collaboration spanning several decades and to discuss a decisive trajectory in the recent history of American independent cinema.