The Portuguese singer appears in the film singing “O Quarto” for Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stone.

The soundtrack for the film “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos, composed by Jerskin Fendrix and which includes a fado performed by Carminho, has been nominated for an Oscar.

According to the list of nominees for the 96th Academy Awards, “Poor Things” is nominated for Best Original Soundtrack, alongside the films “American Fiction”, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Oppenheimer”.

The soundtrack includes the fado “O Quarto”, performed by Portuguese fado singer Carminho, who has a role in the film, singing and playing the Portuguese guitar.

In the film, Carminho appears on a balcony performing the fado for Bella Baxter, the protagonist of the story, played by Emma Stone, in a scenario of an imaginary Lisbon of indefinite time, but where there is no shortage ofazulejo tiles, old cobbled streets, trams suspended between buildings and lots of pasteis de nata.

In an interview with Lusa newsagency, Carminho recalled participating in the production of “Poor Things” in 2021 in a studio in Budapest at a time when she was preparing the album “Portuguesa”.

Carminho said the director, who was well informed about fado, wanted a specific “connection between the traditional and the contemporary image” for the film and asked her to play the Portuguese guitar, which was a debut for the fado singer and is still a rare experience for women.

“The film talks a lot about feminism and deconstructs more orthodox positions between men and women. For many years, fado was shaped by very defined positions: the women sing, the men manage the fado house, play, and write the poems. He [the director] wants to deconstruct these more calcified constructions. I also feel like this is my role,” explained the singer.

In addition to Best Original Soundtrack, “Poor Things” by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos also garnered another 10 Oscar nominations.

The 96th edition of the Oscars is scheduled for March 10 in Los Angeles.

LUSA