Edila Gaitonde

Edila Gaitonde, born in the Azores, was the first Portuguese woman to marry a Goan of Indian origin during the Salazar dictatorship. Her husband was Pundalik Gaitonde, a freedom fighter who fought for Goa’s independence from Portugal. Edila was a fighter, piano teacher, radio presenter, documentary maker. She left us in 2021 at the age of 100, but it is through her that we will learn stories about an unknown Goa and a forgotten Portugal based on her accounts, photographs and dozens of previously unseen super 8mm films.

A fighter for Goan independence, a piano teacher, and a radio presenter, Edila Gaitonde was also a filmmaker, having directed around two dozen documentaries in 8mm and Super8. Despite their amateur format, Edila's films are particularly well-crafted (professionally filmed, edited, and sound-designed with music and narration). They are delicate portraits of the things around her, where her pedagogical drive merged with her enthusiasm for the world: the Azores, Lisbon, Goa, London, New England.