Topic for A Short Film

A family with a long history (and many members) gathers around a table in a mansion in southern Portugal. The region has transformed from a depressed area into a thriving tourist destination. Kisses, hugs, and greetings quickly turn into complaints and reproaches surrounding the big issue: What should be done with Daddy’s house? It is a tempting piece of cake, laden with rich family memories. But progress cannot be stopped.

On April 25, 1974, a man walked alone in Largo do Carmo. He knocked on the GNR military barracks door and entered, unarmed and without any escorts. Inside, the Government’s chief, Marcelo Caetano, waited, surrounded by the military and the people. The man who stared at him that afternoon and demanded surrender, guaranteeing his safety, had just led Santarém’s Artillery 1 regiment in taking the capital. Without firing a single shot, he managed to overthrow a regime that was over 48 years old. That was the last step to take and he took it, without hesitation, becoming the unavoidable figure of the day that marked the beginning of democracy in Portugal

Accused of adultery, Ana Augusta Plácido and Camilo Castelo Branco were imprisoned for more than a year in the Porto Prison, she in June 1860, he in October of the same year, after an adventurous escape from justice through the lands of the North.

A European teenager ran away from home to marry a Daesh fighter. She became a bride of the Jihad. Three years later, her life has dramatically changed. She is living in an Iraqi prison camp. Now she has two children to take care of and is pregnant again. She is a 20-year-old widow and soon will be put on trial in the Iraqi courts. What have the experiences of war and brainwashing done to her?

Ricardo is a teenager searching for a way out of a ruthless reality that traps him and everyone around him, preventing them from reaching for the stars.

One day they meet randomly on the street: João is unemployed, Clara works in the film industry as a production assistant. They were colleagues at film school. She invites him to participate in this film she’s working on. “Eternal Flame” it’s a melancholic comedy about the dynamics of a film crew and the growing pains of a young slacker. A homage to the family of Portuguese cinema and cinema itself

A pagan tradition in a village in the countryside of Portugal leaves painful traces in a group of young teenagers. 25 years later, when they meet again, the past resurfaces and tragedy sets in.

Somewhere in an unspecified time, Patrick Mendes presents an initiation ritual in a community at the ends of the earth.

The living and the dead speak of the life of a three-year-old boy.

Joana, 40 years old medical phychiatric, is married to Paul, an executive of a large financial company. Paul hopes that Joana fulfils her role and follows his constant social influences demonstrations. But the marriage is profoundly altered when Mónica, a young model, enters Joana´s life. Irresistibly attracted, they involved romantically, in a world of liberating experiences and feelings. But this will be a short trip, since the revelation of this affair forces Paulo to take drastic measures... ~ FICA

Maria Rita joins a quest to find something she doesn't want to be found.

Autobiographical documentary about an Easter vacation spent by the Ruivo’s family in the country town of Castelo de Vide, where the resurrection of Christ is traditionally celebrated with a “rattle” with a pagan resonance.

Vargas is an undercover agent whose mission is to capture a group of robbers. The robbery of a jewelry store will be the ideal moment to catch them in the act. After a conversation with Ricardo, one of the group's members, Vargas questions his view of the enemy, making the mission much more difficult.

Fiction is never very far from reality. A young man, of Portuguese heritage, decides to do a PhD based on the documentary The Good People of Portugal, a work from 1980, also directed by Rui Simões. This opens the door to a parallel between the reality of the film we see and that of PREC, the moment of the studied documentary and the contemporary world, with the young Michel in between.