Manuel Alberto Maia

The life of a family after the 1999 referendum in Timor Leste.

Nokas, a 27 years old man has a simple dream that is to marry his beloved Ci, a Timorese girl who works in a slaughterhouse in Sumili, Kupang. It is not easy to marry a Timorese girl who due to the belis or dowry a man has to pay. The amount varies but it is never a bargain. Sometimes such tradition makes marriage sound like a business transaction which the women become merely an object. In addition Nokas has to get another fund ready for two wedding ceremonies in two locations. Hailing from a poor family Nokas has to make a strategy in funding the costly wedding ceremonies many problems emerge from such big issue like the dowry he has to pay to the parents to the issue of wedding dress. With observational approach this movie is depicting the efforts of Nokas’s family in fulfilling his wedding expenses.

In a fishing village, The employees of Uma de Raffa, a nearly bankrupt resort, are getting anxious. However, a visit from the resort investor brings new hope. The situation suddenly gets complicated when said investor instantly dies from a heart attack.

The life of a family after the 1999 referendum in Timor Leste.

Nokas, a 27 years old man has a simple dream that is to marry his beloved Ci, a Timorese girl who works in a slaughterhouse in Sumili, Kupang. It is not easy to marry a Timorese girl who due to the belis or dowry a man has to pay. The amount varies but it is never a bargain. Sometimes such tradition makes marriage sound like a business transaction which the women become merely an object. In addition Nokas has to get another fund ready for two wedding ceremonies in two locations. Hailing from a poor family Nokas has to make a strategy in funding the costly wedding ceremonies many problems emerge from such big issue like the dowry he has to pay to the parents to the issue of wedding dress. With observational approach this movie is depicting the efforts of Nokas’s family in fulfilling his wedding expenses.

In a fishing village, The employees of Uma de Raffa, a nearly bankrupt resort, are getting anxious. However, a visit from the resort investor brings new hope. The situation suddenly gets complicated when said investor instantly dies from a heart attack.