Francisco Beatriz

The Inquisition continues the persecution of Portuguese Jews, sending Visitador Sebastião Noronha to the city of Oporto. With his family and community in danger, António Álvares, decides to outline an escape plan.

Parque Mayer was the park off all the emotions and amusements in the 1930' s. Under the dictatorship of Oliveira Salazar and his police, many people came to have fun in its theaters attending the portuguese kind of play called 'revista'. A writer called Mario Pintor (paintor) is writing a play in which a new actress (Deolinda) will star as the main role, while an already famous actor named Eduardo tries to seduce this recent arrival.

In a time preceding the Carnation Revolution, we meet two men: one young, one old. One is fleeing the country, and the other helps him escape through Trás-os-Montes. While they make “the leap,” they speak about their lives and their troubles… This is an ode to those who fought for Freedom, and to these fifty springs that have passed. Throughout 13 performed songs, we travel across the country, hand in hand with several Portuguese people who tells us their stories through music, until we get back to this young man who runs away and returns to Lisbon, shortly after the Revolution, to reunite with his loved ones and live in freedom.

1986, just 12 years after the Carnation Revolution. The Left Wing is divided, while the Right seems on track for an easy win, which will give them both a President and a Government. The only one capable of stopping this victory is a man who fought his whole life against Estado Novo. Arrested dozens of time, deported and exiled, he was one of the first to arrive in Lisbon after April 25st. That man is Mário Soares.

“1618” is a film about the inquisitorial visit to Porto that encountered resistance from priests, ordinary citizens and the city authorities themselves, all accustomed for centuries to living alongside the Jews.