Raquel Dias

1920s. Vitalino, a small farmer from São Vicente sees his father die of the epidemic which decimated the country. Some years later, of all the brothers, Vitalino is the strongest and takes his father’s place in the house. But the village is too small for his aspirations and he decides to head to Brazil, leaving his sisters in charge of the household. In parallel with Vitalino’s story, If I Were a Thief… I’d Steal portrays the world of Paulo Rocha rummaging through his films and ghosts over the years.

They are both there. Who belongs where? He thinks she comes from far away in time. She says she has always been there. He gets a job. He sells his house. She only has a blanket. Which one is passing through?

Helena is doctor in a big hospital. One night she hears a love song through her window and starts living for that song that she hears everynight.

In this film an artist is under 24-hour surveillance. Through a continuous circulation of images and sounds, the spectator becomes an accomplice and witness to all his movements. During this process we ask ourselves not only why we are following the artist in this way but also about the meaning and the nature of his work.

Film made with Lisbon Theatre & Cinema students of 1995

The relationship between António and Ruth ends unexpectedly when Ruth decides to live with Pedro, António's best friend. António doesn't fight back and lets himself drown. From the woods come Violeta and Gaspar, two strange beings, a mixture of fairies, demons and guardian angels, who help António overcome his depression. With the thunders the two characters return to their domains. And life goes on.

Raul Vasconcelos and Helena Brito founded a partnership over 20 years ago and has over a hundred lawyers in its service. Raul has an ego as big as the world and it was that self-assuredness that made him notorious in the courtroom. Besides being an astute lawyer, he’s a hopeless playboy who with age developed the tendency to say and do whatever he feels like. His trouble is that he’s constantly abusing that privilege. Helena is a confident woman, albeit more discreet and concerned about the firm's public perception, constantly considering how her actions might negatively affect the partnership and its bottom line. Her personality led her to take over managing the firm, taking care of all bureaucratic affairs. Other lawyers stand out in the firm, as is the case of Pedro Pimentel, who just made senior partner. He’s impeccably put together and has a smile that wins over most women, but behind this agreeable façade of his there’s a person with a lust for power and fame.

The tragic story of the many lives of Father Dinis, his dark origins and his pious works, and the different fates of all those who, trapped in a sinister web of love, hate and crime, cross paths with him through years of adventure and misfortune in the convulsed Europe of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. (A longer television version of the film of the same name, released in 2010.)