Short films
We invite you to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Portuguese democracy in the company of this diverse and original selection of short films. In the year that marks half a century since the Carnation Revolution, we are delighted to partner with Agência – Portuguese Short Film Agency.
In this programme, a brief overview is given of how the Estado Novo, the Colonial War and the Revolution of April 25th 1974 were portrayed in Portuguese cinema. The programme represents the before, during and after the Portuguese Revolution, from a look at resistance and fascism, to the historic and to the memories and traumas of the colonial war; through creative and inventive filmmaking.
A Noite Saiu à Rua / Abi Feijó / 1987 / Animation / 4 mins
Based on João Abel Manta’s book “Caricaturas Portuguesas dos Anos de Salazar”, this is a panoramic animation about a village dominated by tyranny. Faces wounded by absence, figures stiff with silence, lands splattered with blood… And we die asleep, indifferent, until the mornings come.
Menina Young Lady / Simão Cayatte / 2016 / Fiction / 15 mins
Lisbon, 1971. A young “housewife” gains courage and discovers a reality that will change her life.
Antes de Amanhã Before Tomorrow / Gonçalo Galvão Teles / 2007 / Fiction / 16 mins
Mário, a persecuted, pessimistic man on the run. Ifonly he could get to the meeting point agreed withthe man who promised him salvation… a telephonebox on Calçada da Ajuda at seven in the morning…the hope of a new life could survive. And everything would return to normal. But what if the dawn of the 25th turns out to be anything but normal?
A Caça Revoluções The Revolution Hunter / Margarida Rêgo / 2013 / 11 mins
It all started with a photograph taken in Lisbon in 1974, after the Revolution. Caça Revoluções explores the relationship between two generations at two different times and struggles. It’s the April Revolution inspiring the generations who only know it through the stories of those who lived it and the photographs we’ve appropriated to make it our own.
Lugar Em Parte Nenhuma A Place In Nowhere / Bárbara Oliveira e João Rodrigues / 2016 / 16 mins
“Until one day… when the first shot was fired, we had to leave our homes.” In 1975, Ema was awaiting the arrival of her first child in Angola. However, her peaceful wait was abruptly interrupted by a force that took her from her comfort and changed her life forever.
Estilhaços Fragments / José Miguel Ribeiro / 2016 / 18 mins
This is a film about how war settles in the bodies of people who live it eye to eye. And then, thousands of kilometres and dozens of years later, it contaminates other human beings like a virus. “Shrapnel” reveals how the colonial war took hold of the bodies and minds of those who returned, and how the trauma can be transferred to subsequent generations.
O Casaco Rosa The Pink Jacket / Mónica Santos / 2022 / 8 mins
A musical and political animation about a Pink Jacket who always has something up his sleeve. From the comfort of his home, Casaco Rosa tortures and sews up opponents of the system. Based on Rosa Casaco, the PIDE inspector who headed the brigade that assassinated General Humberto Delgado.
