Cândido Ferreira

Lisbon, Portugal, 2010. Pilar, a pious woman devoted to social causes, maintains a peculiar relationship with her neighbor Aurora, a temperamental old woman obsessed with gambling who lives tormented by a mysterious past.

At first sight, 10-year-old Benoît Brisefer, seems like any other little boy his age. However, Benoît is endowed with amazing force. All the bandits who cross his path learn this to their own cost. But, unfortunately, no one is perfect... As soon as he catches a cold, Benoît loses his extraordinary physical abilities. Hence he never takes off the woollen scarf wrapped around his neck. Brave and very determined, he doesn't hesitate a second to take action to defend his friends. So, when Poilonez - a well known crook - and his gang decide to focus on Mr. Dussiflard, his taxi driver friend, Benoît does all that he can to thwart his plans.

The story of five generations of the Austrian-Brazilian Knieps family, from the inauguration of their family-owned Great Mystical Circus in the 1910s up to the early 21st century, following both the family and the circus from their prime through to their decadence.

A philosophy-obsessed serial rapist stalks a university campus in broad daylight.

Father António is a priest by vocation, committed and generous, dear people of Vila Daires a quiet village of the north. But Father António is also a man, and Vila Daires is not as peaceful as it seems. The good intentions of the Father will not be sufficient to halt the worsening of the conflict. And when your fate intersects with Lena, the "black sheep" of the village, Father will also be forced to confront his own demons. Especially with those who never even thought that could exist.

The tragedy and comedy in Carlos' life begins, grows and ends like the tragedy and comedy of Portugal. In the company of his close friend, João da Ega, allegedly a brilliant writer, Carlos, with his idle existence as an aristocratic doctor, spends his time to enjoying friends and lovers. Until he falls in love. She is a new character in this revolutionary novel. It's a vertiginous passion that goes beyond that past gloominess to reach a new and darker abyss, incest.

Telenovela star Mariana is on the verge of a nervous breakdown: shooting is not going smoothly, her popularity is waning, and she is forever being hounded by paparazzi. Frustrated, Mariana can't find out who is responsible for these invasions of her privacy. It is the feared 'Paparazzo' Gabriela Santos, who's real name is Juan. One day, Juan and Mariana meet by chance and fall in love. Now Juan must do everything he can to prevent Mariana from discovering his true identity.

The film tells the story of Martin, a child of nine years, who one day disappears from private school where he studied. Police mounted a major search operation across the city to find him. All hypotheses are possible: What happened?

Five women, all in their forties, try to find out what's important for them in life.

Lourenço is the son of Francisco Figueiredo, a soccer coach in the beginning of a very promising career. Everything goes well: Francisco's team is in the Portuguese Cup final and Lourenço is going to be class valedictorian in a very prestigious private high school. But everything starts to collapse. Francisco is fired and Lourenço must transfer to a public high school whose students are predominantly from a ghetto near Lisbon. While Lourenço is fighting to fit into a new and harsh reality, he also helps his father find his lost dignity. Hope is a strange place.

David has a wife and young daughter. In a few days he will be moving abroad with his family. The death of his grandfather obliges him to return to the village of his birth and a family he hasn’t seen in years. There he meets his cousin's wife Ana, who intrigues him, and this trip, which should have ended with the funeral, turns into a long stay.

Ambulatory history, freely inspired by Georg Büchner's biography (1813-37) and the reasons that led him first to political intervention and then to strict isolation. With students of unidentified present time (1968? 1970?), the themes developed, in Büchner, are triggered by the publication of "The Messenger of Hesse", a pamphlet addressed to the peasants, urging them to revolt. Their misunderstanding, as well as the repression of the young revolutionaries, leads Büchner to a particularly skeptical and painful attitude...

This odd film is a major representative of an even odder film genre: direct-to-celluloid opera. It was commissioned by the Portuguese master of style, director Manoel de Oliveira from composer João Paes. Musically, it ranges from 19th-century romanticism to popular, modernist and even "post-modernist" styles. In the initially tame story, a host-narrator tells the story of a wedding between the two lovebirds: Viscount d'Aveleda and the beautiful Marguerite. However, what happens in the bridal chamber is incredibly bizarre. The events after that are even stranger, and the wedding guests and family indulge in cannibalism, among other perversions.

Portugal, 1944. In a country oppressed by a brutal dictatorship, there are those who resist and mobilize the people to fight for bread and freedom, even if it cost them prison, torture or their lives.

In 1971, António Lobo Antunes' life is brutally interrupted when he is drafted into the Portuguese Army to serve as a doctor in one of the worst zones of the Colonial War – the East of Angola. Away from everything dear he writes letters to his wife while he is immersed in an increasingly violent setting. While he moves between several military posts he falls in love for Africa and matures politically. At his side, an entire generation struggles and despairs for the return home. In the uncertainty of war events, only the letters can make him survive.

The Empire Hotel is a 30-year-old landmark in Macau's old quarter, inhabited by characters with their own stories and struggles. It is also Maria's home. One day, the burden of keeping lives together and the hotel standing falls on her shoulders. A young man who left Macau two decades ago returns, intent on revenge and reclaiming his mother's fortune – half the hotel. Inside the casino, Maria sings Fado and exotic dancers perform. It is against this illusory backdrop that the man lays eyes on Maria for the first time; they’re both mesmerized. The film cuts back and forth between film noir-style scenes of Macau’s past and present.

The story of Brazilian Antônio José da Silva, a jewish poet, playwright and lawyer living in the 18th Century Lisbon, who managed to avoid Inquisition by converting himself to Catholicism, after being tortured. But his fierce criticism of Portugal's élite led him to persecution and torture, becoming kind of a scapegoat.

Miguel has his life falling apart, but in one last push of hope, he tries to change that and start living a normal life.

Are the Portuguese afraid of the changes after the Estado Novo dictatorship?

The Woman opens the front door. Two men greet her by saying "Good morning my lady, we came to install the fear.".

Catarina Menezes is a bisexual TV reporter who decides to have a child on her own and chooses Spanish humanitarian doctor Rafael to father the child, setting up an elaborate charade to lure him into her bed. When Catarina reveals her pregnancy, though, her current live-in girlfriend doesn't take to it kindly and promises to make Catarina's life hell; to make matters worse, Rafael finds out her true identity and comes to Lisbon to see her. And Catarina's sole refuge is in the arms of fellow journalist Francisco, her professional relationship slowly becoming a romantic one.

The film is set in Lisbon, and tells the story of a day in the life of Rita and Paulo, a Portuguese young couple of the 90's. The fast changing city around them makes them wish to break with all traditions and live the day the get married (only civil marriage) like it is an ordinary day.

Mozambique, 1969. What was meant to be a peaceful Christmas Eve ends up badly as a group of soldiers brings home a prisoner that will be murdered. Simultaneously, the Capitan's wife arrives in surprise, bringing along a Priest, who is supposed to celebrate the mass.

Diogo Almada is a successful account manager at a telecommunications company who is struggling with serious stress and anxiety issues due to the constant state of pressure he lives in. His situation becomes worse when he suffers a stroke which puts him in hospital. There, doctors tell him that if he doesn't slow down things could become much worse for him in the future. He also meets the owner of a vegetables and herbs greenery in Beirais, a small village in the midlands, who is looking to sell it. Diogo then decides to buy him out and risk it as a farmer himself. He wants his girlfriend Teresa to come along with him, but she refuses to leave Lisbon due to her career and also because she doesn't want to give up her city comforts. But Diogo decides to move to Beirais anyway, where he is faced with an entirely different reality from what he’s used to.

Showing reality like it is... What happens when a promising and smart young woman is suddenly called upon to lead he most sophisticated police force in the country. To Ana Belmonte, this is the promotion of her lifetime, to the Criminal Police, this is a shake-up in their deep-seated hierarchy. This young inspector will be confronted with crimes that are tough to crack, where everyone is a suspect and leads can lead to the most unexpected places. But she’ll also have to face the jealousy and anger within her own department, where there are as many allies as there are enemies, and she’s a woman in a men’s world. Having been promoted by her former stepfather and national director Alberto Machado, Ana is going to permanently change the lives of those around her, whether they like it or not.

The underground lives and struggles of communist party militants during the Portuguese 'Estado Novo' regime.

A comedy through the world of excursions ... with a somewhat uncertain destination! Welcome to the world of cheap excursions.