Cândido Ferreira

Two friends cannot find their way around the city of Lisbon. It is a film, which could be a poem, that has no genre and serves as a bridge between the narratives, forms, and dreams of the characters they encounter.

Lisbon, Portugal, 2010. Pilar, a pious woman devoted to social causes, maintains a peculiar relationship with her neighbor Aurora, a temperamental old woman obsessed with gambling who lives tormented by a mysterious past.

The story of five generations of the Austrian-Brazilian Knieps family, from the inauguration of their family-owned Great Mystical Circus in the 1910s up to the early 21st century, following both the family and the circus from their prime through to their decadence.

The Empire Hotel is a 30-year-old landmark in Macau's old quarter, inhabited by characters with their own stories and struggles. It is also Maria's home. One day, the burden of keeping lives together and the hotel standing falls on her shoulders. A young man who left Macau two decades ago returns, intent on revenge and reclaiming his mother's fortune – half the hotel. Inside the casino, Maria sings Fado and exotic dancers perform. It is against this illusory backdrop that the man lays eyes on Maria for the first time; they’re both mesmerized. The film cuts back and forth between film noir-style scenes of Macau’s past and present.

Telenovela star Mariana is on the verge of a nervous breakdown: shooting is not going smoothly, her popularity is waning, and she is forever being hounded by paparazzi. Frustrated, Mariana can't find out who is responsible for these invasions of her privacy. It is the feared 'Paparazzo' Gabriela Santos, who's real name is Juan. One day, Juan and Mariana meet by chance and fall in love. Now Juan must do everything he can to prevent Mariana from discovering his true identity.

The tragedy and comedy in Carlos' life begins, grows and ends like the tragedy and comedy of Portugal. In the company of his close friend, João da Ega, allegedly a brilliant writer, Carlos, with his idle existence as an aristocratic doctor, spends his time to enjoying friends and lovers. Until he falls in love. She is a new character in this revolutionary novel. It's a vertiginous passion that goes beyond that past gloominess to reach a new and darker abyss, incest.

At first sight, 10-year-old Benoît Brisefer, seems like any other little boy his age. However, Benoît is endowed with amazing force. All the bandits who cross his path learn this to their own cost. But, unfortunately, no one is perfect... As soon as he catches a cold, Benoît loses his extraordinary physical abilities. Hence he never takes off the woollen scarf wrapped around his neck. Brave and very determined, he doesn't hesitate a second to take action to defend his friends. So, when Poilonez - a well known crook - and his gang decide to focus on Mr. Dussiflard, his taxi driver friend, Benoît does all that he can to thwart his plans.

The film tells the story of Martin, a child of nine years, who one day disappears from private school where he studied. Police mounted a major search operation across the city to find him. All hypotheses are possible: What happened?

The Woman opens the front door. Two men greet her by saying "Good morning my lady, we came to install the fear.".

In 1971, António Lobo Antunes' life is brutally interrupted when he is drafted into the Portuguese Army to serve as a doctor in one of the worst zones of the Colonial War – the East of Angola. Away from everything dear he writes letters to his wife while he is immersed in an increasingly violent setting. While he moves between several military posts he falls in love for Africa and matures politically. At his side, an entire generation struggles and despairs for the return home. In the uncertainty of war events, only the letters can make him survive.

Antonio decides to break free of his mundane existence and rents a silver convertible to take his wife on a dream vacation. Everything seems perfect. Except he doesn't know the way.

Portugal, 1944. In a country oppressed by a brutal dictatorship, there are those who resist and mobilize the people to fight for bread and freedom, even if it cost them prison, torture or their lives.

The story of a man who sees his life change radically upon confronting his progressive loss of memory. As his neurological condition advances, it affects not only his own life but the lives of all those who surround him.

Outside, the first sun rays break the dawn. Sixteen years old Catarina can't fall asleep. Inconsequently, in the big city adults are moved by desire... Catarina found she is HIV positive. She wants to drag everyone else along.

A philosophy-obsessed serial rapist stalks a university campus in broad daylight.

A man who grew up in the '80s, in the midst of the pirate-radio scene, works now at a big, modern radio station, but still holds on to his love for a mysterious female lead singer of a now long gone band. He sets himself to start another pirate-radio, now unlegalized, trying to find her.

David has a wife and young daughter. In a few days he will be moving abroad with his family. The death of his grandfather obliges him to return to the village of his birth and a family he hasn’t seen in years. There he meets his cousin's wife Ana, who intrigues him, and this trip, which should have ended with the funeral, turns into a long stay.

The story of the CEO of a recently privatized company.

Lourenço is the son of Francisco Figueiredo, a soccer coach in the beginning of a very promising career. Everything goes well: Francisco's team is in the Portuguese Cup final and Lourenço is going to be class valedictorian in a very prestigious private high school. But everything starts to collapse. Francisco is fired and Lourenço must transfer to a public high school whose students are predominantly from a ghetto near Lisbon. While Lourenço is fighting to fit into a new and harsh reality, he also helps his father find his lost dignity. Hope is a strange place.

Mozambique, 1969. What was meant to be a peaceful Christmas Eve ends up badly as a group of soldiers brings home a prisoner that will be murdered. Simultaneously, the Capitan's wife arrives in surprise, bringing along a Priest, who is supposed to celebrate the mass.

In oPorto there is a club, Imperatriz, where everything is permitted. A moment in which all intersect in the dark night.

Rui, A teenage boy works in his father shop and has an old brother that is a policeman. His father is about to close the shop, because of money issues, and Rui needs to get money for him and also to help his father. By the hand of a friend he enters in the criminal world to make money.

Vicente goes to Egypt to cover some news for his newspaper, but then he decides to take the investigation further, along the Tropic of Cancer, further and further away (in time and space) from home, and his difficult love life. Therefore he revisits the lands explored 500 years before by the seafarers from his own people: Egypt, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, Laos, China... Eventually he must come back.

No synopsis available yet.

In 1980, a small plane carrying the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and six others crashed during takeoff in Camarate, Portugal, killing all on board. The police investigation decided it was an accident caused by pilot error. But controversy raged for twenty years, and the Parliament investigated it no less than six times. Finally, in 2000, in response to a suit by the families of the survivors, the High Court had to decide whether to open a criminal investigation, or close the case forever.

April 1974 saw the fall of a long lasting dictatorship. The young democracy developed in the midst of much social and political turmoil. The armed wing of a leftist group changed the future of one family - the father disappears without trace, the mother denies their past, and the son grows up with unanswered questions. As a young man, Pedro is determined to reach for answers, aided by his apparently batty grandmother. Collecting clues and meeting people who would rather prefer to remain forgotten. His inner journey leads him Portugal to Spanish through the deserted roads of Alentejo. Pedro will find himself, but there is a price to pay.

No synopsis available yet.

The world of Arthur suddenly was taken by assault by two strangers. Incapable to recognize the two figures presented in front of him, Arthur is trapped in his own chair. A delicate situation, where the intensity increases gradually to it's boiling point.

Father António is a priest by vocation, committed and generous, dear people of Vila Daires a quiet village of the north. But Father António is also a man, and Vila Daires is not as peaceful as it seems. The good intentions of the Father will not be sufficient to halt the worsening of the conflict. And when your fate intersects with Lena, the "black sheep" of the village, Father will also be forced to confront his own demons. Especially with those who never even thought that could exist.

Five women, all in their forties, try to find out what's important for them in life.

Catarina Menezes is a bisexual TV reporter who decides to have a child on her own and chooses Spanish humanitarian doctor Rafael to father the child, setting up an elaborate charade to lure him into her bed. When Catarina reveals her pregnancy, though, her current live-in girlfriend doesn't take to it kindly and promises to make Catarina's life hell; to make matters worse, Rafael finds out her true identity and comes to Lisbon to see her. And Catarina's sole refuge is in the arms of fellow journalist Francisco, her professional relationship slowly becoming a romantic one.

Miguel has his life falling apart, but in one last push of hope, he tries to change that and start living a normal life.

The film is set in Lisbon, and tells the story of a day in the life of Rita and Paulo, a Portuguese young couple of the 90's. The fast changing city around them makes them wish to break with all traditions and live the day the get married (only civil marriage) like it is an ordinary day.

The story of Brazilian Antônio José da Silva, a jewish poet, playwright and lawyer living in the 18th Century Lisbon, who managed to avoid Inquisition by converting himself to Catholicism, after being tortured. But his fierce criticism of Portugal's élite led him to persecution and torture, becoming kind of a scapegoat.

Ten men,ten brothers in arms who fought together in the Portuguese Colony of Angola during the colonial war,gather together every year to dinner and remember those brave times of war...this year, the presence of Nina, a prostitute and a hunt that end in a shootout, will call their instincts and traumatic pasts for one last mission...

Franny (Amanda Plummer), an absent-minded American girl, is in Lisbon to deliver an important package. Unfortunately she has lost the address and only knows that the recipient's name is João. When she meets an old prostitute, Esmeralda, the two join forces and begin cruising the town at night, across the streets and the local bars, meeting Lisbon's unconventional night fauna, to try to find João.

Victim of a train accident, a man regains consciousness in the house of the woman who shared his compartment.

11th century. Descended from the aristocracy, Alexis flees a world dominated by money and strength. The young man, in love with justice and freedom, sets off on the roads to discover the world, abandoning his wife and family.

No synopsis available yet.

This odd film is a major representative of an even odder film genre: direct-to-celluloid opera. It was commissioned by the Portuguese master of style, director Manoel de Oliveira from composer João Paes. Musically, it ranges from 19th-century romanticism to popular, modernist and even "post-modernist" styles. In the initially tame story, a host-narrator tells the story of a wedding between the two lovebirds: Viscount d'Aveleda and the beautiful Marguerite. However, what happens in the bridal chamber is incredibly bizarre. The events after that are even stranger, and the wedding guests and family indulge in cannibalism, among other perversions.

Are the Portuguese afraid of the changes after the Estado Novo dictatorship?

Ambulatory history, freely inspired by Georg Büchner's biography (1813-37) and the reasons that led him first to political intervention and then to strict isolation. With students of unidentified present time (1968? 1970?), the themes developed, in Büchner, are triggered by the publication of "The Messenger of Hesse", a pamphlet addressed to the peasants, urging them to revolt. Their misunderstanding, as well as the repression of the young revolutionaries, leads Büchner to a particularly skeptical and painful attitude...