Also Directed by Solveig Nordlund
Based on the book by Henning Mankell (Sweden), this story takes place in Mozambique and is about a young boy, Nelio, who loses his entire family during a time of civil war. A wounded Nelio is found by a baker in the capital Mapouto; refusing medical treatment, the boy instead asks for sanctuary so he can tell his terrible tale. This he proceeds to do, starting with how the fighters arrived in his village and slaughtered many, to his captivity, his escape and his teaming with other orphaned street urchins to become their leader in survival.
Based on a the short story "Low Flying Aircraft" by J.G. Ballard and set in a near future where humans are dying breed. Judite and André flee to a semi-abandoned apartment complex to protect their mutant child from certain death.
The agriculture reforming process, after the 1974 revolution, is seen through an analysis of the social structures and class struggles of the Portuguese society.
A train trip with a mother and her son, to whom she speaks.
Woman packs up her things to go to an elderly care facility, and talks.
"I write to have a mountain of books when I die." Psychiatrist António Lobo Antunes is one of the most internationally recognized Portuguese writers. His novels, usually settled in Lisbon, are published in prestigious publishers in several countries (Christian Bourgois, Random House, Luchterhand). In Nordlund's film, the characters and scenes from his books constantly interrupt the writer's speech. Lisbon invades his home. The voices of the characters impose themselves to the writer's house. António Lobo Antunes compares his writing to a watercourse that leaves to freely find its way.
Mário, eight years old, a kid who begs in the tourist paradise of Madeira island. One day in his life, from morning to evening.
The story of Carla and Marta, the daughter who is seriously ill. In Barcelona, Carla discovers a special mirror, which is an open door to the past: it keeps the reflection for several years instead of returning it immediately. Carla offers her daughter the mirror and it will change their lives forever.
The famous tragedy of Charlemagne and his nephew the Duque of Mantua, in conflict about a murder. The play, six hours long in its complete version, is performed each year in several villages of Saint Thomas Island, an ancient Portuguese colony. The characters, interpreted only by men wearing masks and sumptuous clothes in European style, are transmitted from father to son, and declaim an unalterable text. Several interviews with them lead us to understand the almost sacred function they are representing.
