The best Artur Semedo’s movies

A small group of well-to-do vacationers go on a hiking trip into the woods. Foolishly unprepared to deal with Mother Nature and their situation, they wander around lost for days and weeks, becoming more and more fatigued, hungry, and desperate. A brief encounter with a pair of epicureans on a bridge fails to garner them any of the gluttons' feast due to a language barrier. Eventually their party begins to die, and the survivors ration their meat among them, attaching a religious-type ritual to its dispensation.

A young agricultural conductor, Pedro goes to Alentejo to work in a farm, in March 1974. The contact with the workers and the experience of their problems make him aware of the exploitation to which they are subject. Such an attitude is not understandable to the workers - coming from the son of a friend of the boss.

The sea, often treacherous, is the only source of living of the people of Nazaré. The film tells the story of António and his family, where no dreams are allowed. There is also the mourning of the woman in black wailing silently on the beach or waiting for their children lost in the sea.

In an imaginary future, Portugal consists of an association of states - North and South - with zones of specific influence. City under vigilance, Lisbon is inhabited by a repressed and militarized population. Maria and António stand out in this city and surrender themselves to a submersive love. 1978

Tony, a trapeze artist, gets a job at a small circus. When a tempest takes away the tent, Tony stays for the love of the beautiful Belmira who could be a rider… if they hadn’t sold the horse. They play at open-air, sleep under the stars, scrimp and save every penny, and soon there’s a new tent to be bought on credit. But Belmira is not happy, she dreams of a real home, while Tony is fascinated by the circus. And the gloomy days are back.

Adriana, an orphan who has been raised in a well off family, becomes pregnant after being seduced by a man. Outraged, Mr. Bento kicks her our of home. What he doesn't realize is that her seducer is his own son, Raul, a brilliant law student.

Trafaria changes his business to Angola, in search of a more profitable occupation, by shaming the pioneers. There he engages in the obscure social and political environment, from which emerge some characteristic figures - administrators, their wives and secretaries, Arabs, police officers, priests and mercenaries...

The shady side of an Italian textile trade in northern Germany is the subject of this slow-paced but atmospheric drama featuring Alberto Sordi as Totonno, a low-level, petty criminal anxious to move up a somewhat crooked ladder. Rising to the rank of the "dons" -- Don Raffaele (Carmine Ippolito) or Don Gennaro (Pasquale Cenammo) -- is not an easy task, as Totonno is about to find out. In the meantime, Paula (Belinda Lee) provides a romantic distraction, and another would-be entrepreneur opts for the straight and narrow. This uneven feature offers some colorful performances but the sum is less convincing than its parts.

At the end of the nineteenth century, an army force led by Major Mouzinho de Albuquerque, a cavalry officer, imprisoned in Mozambique the great regulative Governor Gungunhana, who had rebelled against Portuguese government and sovereignty

Beladona was the greatest star, or so she thought. Careless of her rural property, she lived by night countless adventures. From one such nights in the arms of a stage and movie producer, she begot her dear Lilás. Alas, six minutes after birth, the boy was taken from her and declared dead - due to the intrigue of the producer, who didn't want to recognize the child as his. Taken into custody by a surrogate mother, twenty years after the child grew into a man, who starts his education in the very fado (folk song, also meaning destiny) tavern where his real mother is. Beladona is still an attractive woman - and drama is round the corner.

This Portuguese movie directed by João Botelho, is part of The Four Elements series. This is the second episode, The Air.

The disastrous attempts of D. Lucas Telmo Midões to achieve in 1981 the independence of the Berlengas islands - lost eight centuries ago, during the conquests of D. Afonso Henriques.

Manuel and Pedro have different approaches to love. Manuel suffers a disgust that makes him sullen, and enters the priesthood. Pedro keeps on in his carefree ways, and commits a robbery. Manuel knows the robber is Pedro, but he learned it in Catholic confession. To keep his vows as a priest, he is prepared to be arrested.

Meia-Lua used to be a sailor, but he now makes a poor living smuggling. He is a cynical man, who doesn't care for Ana or for the child they had together. He lives with the beautiful Marlene who dances in the bars. Gull spends her whole days lulling a doll in her arms, and she waits for her love that will rise from the depths of the sea. The deaf musician Sparrow watches over her, in his despaired love and long-held wish of becoming a sea captain. There is a dispute down the piers, there is a crime that might be just an accident, there is a bad conscience that turns sour, there is a boat full of poor wretches like a rocking lullaby, a baby that passes from arms to arms, a clumsy beggar that finds some work, a courthouse of tramps... From this expressionist account that has unexpected comical moments, the censors from Salazar's regime cut away 20 minutes that were never to be found again.