Hugo Santiago

Can a turtle, the most pacific animal on earth, start a range of significant events that are going to forever change a couple's life? After dividing all their assets, Arnaldo e Barbara still have one decision to make before they formalize their separation: what to do with the turtle? Amongst hesitation and failed solutions, unintended burglaries, police stations, plastic natures and misunderstandings, a single turtle fate is postponing this couple's separation. Because they know that, when they give the turtle back to its natural habitat, their relationship will be over. Are they ready for that last step?

“Sacavém” is a journey through Pedro Costa’s films and focused on his work on “Down to Earth”, “Bones”, “In Vanda's Room“, “Colossal Youth” and “Horse Money” Built on the visual and sound landscape of Pedro Costa’s films and accompanied by his owns reflections on the matter, “Sacavém” serves the audience has a window on how Costas cinema is sensed and conceived.

A modern villa in the dry Portuguese summer landscape. The sun scorching bright high in the sky, four well-built bodies - three male, one female - hanging out by the pool, on the porch, in the bedrooms. All seem to be waiting for something, or as it soon turns out - someone. Scene by scene we are revealed the complex interpersonal relations and the most important, the relation of all the characters with the one who is being waited for. Who is that mythical person and what will happen when he finally arrives?

Maria spends her daytime sewing and cleaning, while at night she works as a prostitute in Oporto's streets. Years ago her path crossed with José, a married man who became her most faithful client but who couldn't help her to escape the hard life. Today this old prostitute continues showing off her body through the long city's nights, though the clients are almost gone. José is still there, but he failed at what she desired the most: a son. In a very intimate and raw portray of a woman, MARIA disclosures how love and getting older can feels like.

Portugal, 1975. A time of rough changes. A young gay artist trapped in a small seaside town ran by communist winds. Al Berto, the writer, embodies an entire moving generation. He and his friends exude youth, eccentricity and hope for the future - but right after the fall of Portugal's dictatorship system, the country is not yet ready for his love story.

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.

Manuel João Vieira shows us his home - or homes - and the characters who live there. The starting point is the characters' definition and the Casa Manuel Vieira exhibition. The Italian neighbour and the accidental tourist help us create scenarios on the man and the artist. In short, it is Manuel João Vieira and his rather particular working universe.

In the middle of the night an old man watches over a school. In the early morning he opens the doors and sweeps the floor. Children's voices from afar are singing the national anthem of Mozambique. The old man carries us to an enormous mysterious space, which will be revealed fragmentarily by encounters with its protagonists. Elvita works incessantly and fights for her rest periods with his husband. Carlos seeks a bank loan to enlarge a small sales booth and maybe finally to build a house for his family. Salim prays several times a day and teaches the Koran to children, at home his firstborn deserves a great deal of attention. Three lives moving towards the future without cutting off the calm circumstances of the present.

Fernando Lemo's world is fiercely stripped of any external logic, as Jorge de Sena once said. His artistic gesture blends with his own existence, where the poetic principle comes first. And with the light that insists to come through the half-closed door, the fear of life is vanquished in the battle fought with death. Thus, each word is born within another word and each image within another image. Out of how many knives is love made, the poet wonders?

In this film an artist is under 24-hour surveillance. Through a continuous circulation of images and sounds, the spectator becomes an accomplice and witness to all his movements. During this process we ask ourselves not only why we are following the artist in this way but also about the meaning and the nature of his work.