David & Golias

"In the beginning of this project, I wanted to do a documentary film based on this book by Luiz Ruffato. However, I ended up doing a feature film with many links to documentary. I wanted to know what made Brazilians want to emigrate to Portugal. I chose working with amateur actors and non-actors in both cities, so their own life stories and experiences could be in the film. I did the other way round from the writer. He found these people and made them characters of his book. I looked for people who had similar stories to those described in the book, and made them characters of my film. When I read the book, I was seduced by its "false documentary" characteristic. The book was all written as if it was the transcription of an oral interview the writer had done in Lisbon. I decided to keep this narrative in the film, by a narration with the main character talking to the camera. It's a film about emigration. About dreams and disappointments," says Barahona

Film biography dwelling on the hectic artistic life of António Variações, a famous Portuguese pop rock singer from the 80s, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1984.

Sofia lives a strangely isolated life in the old apartment where she grew up in Lisbon. Mariama arrives from Guinea-Bissau, having been hired by Sofia’s mother to help take care of the house and her son. The appearance of Bobô, Mariama’s younger sister, awakens in Sofia the desire to take a stand. The forced cohabitation between Sofia and Mariama forces them to confront their own private ghosts.

Jorge is a loner and a writer of popular books. At night, he looks through other people's windows and thinks that they are truly happy.

It’s like soot that rests on the walls of our head. We can’t see it. It belongs there already.

At the age of 71, a highly regarded writer, José Cardoso Pires, suffers a major stroke and loses his memory and the ability to relate to the rest of the world. Everybody seems to defy the famous author to write another novel that recounts this adventure telling his "last story", the most conclusive of his career, the one of his accidental journey to the clear shadows territory.

A 20-year veteran of the Angolan civil war returns to the capital city of Luanda where he faces the challenges of assimilation and survival.

Pele is a film about a young mulatto woman that in spite of being rich, beautiful and intelligent, feels discriminated because of the colour of her skin. The entire plot is in the early 70's, when Portugal had a dictatorial government, ultramarine territories and lots of racism in its society… Issues like racism, female condition and the spoilt lives of the high-society are the main themes of this movie

Sebastian is a wealthy young man. He finds out he has a flat tire and ends up accepting help from a Gypsy passer by. In return Sebastian will have to give him a ride home - but they won't reach their expected destination.

Life has moved too fast for Mane. at the age of 50 he watches the slow sacrifice of his ideals. His wife, Lucy, has locked him in to a daily routine. His work in a small commercial shop and grocer's has worn him out. His dreams have evaporated into the drought of the beaten earth of Mindelo. Now forgotten, with his past as a great football player for Mindelense, in St Vincent in Cape Verde, he only has the belated compassion of his friends, neighbours, and cafe companions: "He was important", "He was the keeper in Cape Verde", "He could have played for Benfica!" Mane rejects the loss of his status as a hero. When training a youth team he sees himself again in KALU, a rebellious but talented youth. He is guided by a whirlwind of thoughts; he was also young, had opportunities, felt the sting of love and wasted his flame. A beaten leather ball shines in his hands once again, Benfica, his club, calls him to the Portuguese Cup Final.

A writer becomes the main character in the story he intended to write

It is said that there is a lost manuscript by Fradique Mendes in a monastery in Cairu, a small city located south of Salvador.

“I am totally in love with Timor!”, said the Portuguese poet, anthropologist and agronomist Ruy Cinatti upon arriving on the island. From 1946 to 1974, he led a nomadic experiment, building a lasting relationship with Timor-Leste’s people and territory. The cultural identity he sought to protect is threatened by colonial oppression and the decline of the Portuguese Empire. Rejecting these circumstances, Cinatti reaches out to the people and its tribes, documenting rituals, filming, photographing and even making blood oaths with tribal chiefs to gain access to sacred places and become a Timorese.

What remains of the 1940s and 1950s collective memory of Mindelo's two cinemas, and the two amateur groups who produced three 8mm films out of their love for cinema.

Five workers on an assembly line at a large company based in an airport challenge the impossibility of changing the social division of labor, carried out in accordance with the classical principles of specialization and segmentation.

Life is as unchanging as ever in the village: the sun sets between memories. The arrival of a young outsider changes everything. The old are offered a new gift and they accept it. The dreams awaken an old song which pulses through the village. 'With Fate driving the cart of everything along the road of nothing.'

Nheengatu – The Language of the Amazon takes us on a journey along the Negro River, on the trail of this language imposed on indigenous people by the first Portuguese colonialists who landed in Brazil in the 15th century. Throughout the various encounters with local communities that still speak this language, the director faces the different cultural, historical and social issues that confront tradition and future.

Quitterie, a 40 year-old woman, relives the great love for her deceased 18 year-old Japanese partner, by successively meeting up with young strangers.