Saramago, In Print and On Film

Day two of Cine Las Americas sees the regional premiere of José y Pilar, about the love affair between Portuguese man of letters and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago and his wife, Spanish journalist Pilar del Rio. The screening couldn't have been timed better: Today also sees the publication of a collection of early Saramago short stories.

The Lives of Things (Verso Books, $23.95) collects the author's "early experiments with the short story form, attesting to the young novelist’s imaginative power and incomparable skill in elaborating the most extravagant fantasies. Combining bitter satire, outrageous parody and Kafkaesque hallucinations, these stories explore the horror and repression that paralyzed Portugal under the Salazar regime and pay tribute to human resilience in the face of injustice and institutionalized tyranny."

Saramago had a hugely prolific career – his dozens of publications included novels such as Blindness (which was adapted into a 2008 film starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo), poetry, plays, short stories, and nonfiction work. Miguel Gonçalves Mendes' 2010 film José e Pilar documented Saramago's leukemia-stricken end days as he labored on his last novel, The Elephant's Journey. It screens tonight (4/25), 7pm, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.

For more on the 15th annual Cine Las Americas Film Festival, check out our preview, on stands now.