Discoveries from Portugal World Cinema

The work of the artist.

This documentary short film, inspired by the musical work of the singer Gil do Carmo, called "The Whole World", aims to portray the life of Arroios, the most multicultural parish in Lisbon, which, over two square kms of total area, welcomes around 40 thousand people of 92 different nationalities. Gil do Carmo's voice and steps lead us through the bustling streets of this neighbourhood and reveal some of its gems: the Intendente street market, the Arab restaurant, traditional Japanese dance classes, the Indian barber shop or the Hindu temple. This film portrays the pulse of miscegenation lived in the city of Lisbon. We want to believe that from one neighbourhood (Arroios) all of Lisbon is inclusively not a “Strange way of life”, but a reality in Lisbon, as in "Whole World".

"Diário de Bissau" was filmed in 2017 and reports the daily life of the capital city of Guinea-Bissau. By reading the newspaper Diário de Bissau, which the film is named after, we take notice of the local news. This reading is intercut with the testimony of Martinho Barbosa, a Guinean who witnessed Guinea's recent history and presents his view of the key issues facing the country.

Luís is a professional killer and homosexual. In his specific universe, he is possessed by cocaine and an addiction to killing people. One day, while carrying out his profession, he falls in love with the corpse of the girl he killed.

While wandering around the city on his bike, as if trying to find a path for his life, a nameless protagonist thinks about the encounters and mis-encounters that perpetuate or change his routines, about the fears that trap him and the dreams and desires that set him free. Gradually, the vertices of a love triangle are revealed, leading him to confess his anxieties and to question his certainties.

Ricardo is an actor, driver, teacher, painter and a dancer at Sensible Soccers' shows. One day he forgets his signature dance move. Will he ever get it back? A film between documentary and fiction that immortalises a dance move present in the collective imaginary.

This film dives into a new world of possibilities, from the diversity of emotions tcreated by this one man alone in this house to his behavior and transformation on the world that he is creating.

A group of factory workers in post-independence Mozambique perform a ritual of song describing their work in South African gold mines and decrying the evils of apartheid.

Renato, who considers himself a non-binary fag, is cleaning his apartment when he finds an item that causes him to immerse himself in memories, homesickness and challenges to maintain relationships with his parental family. Is what separates greater than what unites?

Fábio’s a tough dealer from the neighborhood of Mouraria. He knows everyone and everyone knows him. Fighting to stay alive, he deals drugs and makes sure all debts are collected. In one of those incursions, things don’t go as planned, bringing to the surface what laid within.

New years special aired on RTP on 1991

An entertaining TV movie that tells us how the transition from the Estado Novo to democracy took place on April 25. All this through the eyes of a child, the daughter of a dutiful employee who always had to submit, even if he disagreed, to his boss's despotism in order to provide for his family. Until the day when she simply wanted to enjoy the day of absolute promise, so long awaited, with her daughter.

We want cheap fruit and veg, all year. No problem. The Pickers deliver, but they are paying the price for us: Exploited migrants harvest our oranges, strawberries, olives, blueberries and other fruit and vegetables in Greece, Spain, Italy or Portugal.

Eight mysterious murders occur on the UFES campus, and the police have no clues as to the perpetrator of the crimes.

After the reconciliation of a fight, Tomas impatiently waits for his girlfriend Ana to return from her sister's house to the apartment where they live. When messages and calls from people close to the couple begin to arrive, Ana finally arrives and Tomas ignores them.

The Italian Rino Lupo directed some of the most important silent films of Portuguese cinema. Pedro Lino develops, in Lupo, an investigation about the director, discovering one of the mysteries that surrounded him, the year and place of his death.

Crime Blue Abyss Physical Remorse is inspired by the life and works of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. This controversial 20th century painter defied the world avant-garde of his time: “I don’t follow schools. I am an impressionist, cubist, futurist, abstractionist. A melting pot. The real tradition is not to try and relive the past – which is impossible to achieve – but rather something that sets up a follow-through, as happens with parents and children. A child and his father are never alike.” The film follows Amadeo’s motto. It crosses pictorial fiction – suggested by the emblematic picture “The Procession”, painted in Paris in 1913 – with Portuguese contemporary reality.

A documentary about nightwatchers in Recife middle-class buildings.

In this love story, a young couple faces an uncertain future between Africa and Europe. When they reunite in Lisbon, sharing a house with other immigrants, farness and closeness will test their relationship.

Ricardo is a teenager searching for a way out of a ruthless reality that traps him and everyone around him, preventing them from reaching for the stars.

The pieces silently start gathering into the room, while the giants, unaware, keep living their macabre routines.

A compilation of films project multiple versions of people won by vida.

Description: Very rare images of a bullring. Children playing at home. The docks. Family in front of the moored ships. Child in front of a race announcement at the Jockey Club. Travel by train in the direction of the suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Cine Oriente, in Olaria. Party at Penha Church. Picnic. Rare images of street carnival with black musicians and revelers, possibly in Estácio de Sá. Costumed family. Carnival blocks. Carnival corso on Avenida Rio Branco. Woman killing chicken. Men dressed as women at the carnival. Battle of confetti and rice powder.

Samuel Muxingueno escapes from conflict areas in eastern Angola, and seeks shelter in Luanda. Here, his main enemy becomes his own shadow. Seeking to get rid of it, Samuel turns to life in the darkness of a deserted building. To be able to get back into the light, he makes a radical decision.

"The best and most complete documentary about Curitiba". When producer Rudinei Fanfa used this phrase to define this video he wanted to express how much his documentary is rich in content, and how he managed to show in only 47 minutes all aspects of this beautiful city.

A jester must entertain. But he doesn't always want to.

It’s all natural phenomena. There’s no doubt about that. The tide turns in cycles. Water rots wood. Meteors may fall anytime, anywhere. It’s just rock burning in the atmosphere. Fishes die if they stay out of the water for too long. This process takes time and when it ends there’s no turning back. When one of these things does not take place something fundamental has changed. That’s when miracles happen.

This animated documentary takes us on a bittersweet journey into the lives of immigrants in the municipality of Odemira, Portugal. They share the experience of struggles, frustrations, and hopes as they try to find their place. Who is a local and who is an outsider in a world where borders are increasingly questioned?

In the fallout of nuclear war, totalitarian regimes reshape world order. Ernesto is hiding a secret, and when a government inspector shows up at his doorstep, a cat-and-mouse game unfolds — one that can only end in tragedy.

A bike ride through a hallucinogenic city.

At his girlfriend's family's formal dinner, Mateus, an anxious young man, attempts to conceal his secret from the bizarre family members who suspect him.

A documentary feature that features six interviews with activists from the Asian-Brazilian movement who comment on activism and the experience of yellow people in Brazil.

A video letter motivated by artistic failures and persistent loneliness.

Insects move secretly, like tiny gods performing rituals unseen by human eyes. Deuses Efémeros watches this secret world with care, in a contemplative animation.

The famous short-story by worldwide known writer Edgar Allan Poe takes a twisted and never seen turn when adapted to the the controversial and harsh world of the Portuguese dictatorship times of the "New State" in the 20th century.

Ana is a child, girl, adult, tall, fat, thin... Ana is the part of all of us that once in a while wakes up without knowing who she is. That conscious amnesia that propels us to travel, question, look without tiring even though it might not be clear who or what we might find.

Discussing cinema during a pandemic – a revisit to an online film club, after thirty post-viewing discussion sessions that took place during the first lockdown.