The best Miguel Nunes’s movies

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.

An unexpected meeting on Twitter, introduces young actress Luísa to António, a writer and journalist, who hides his identity using Rasputine as his profile name. This virtual relationship becomes the centre of their lives. António is attracted by Luísa’s irresistible charm and youthfulness, and Luísa finds in Rasputine the realisation of her love aspirations. They finally decide to meet. But, on his way, António has an accident…

Six friends meet every evening in a basement to make music. During the daytime, however, there are no rehearsals for what life brings us. Each endeavour leaves its mark. Rita left Ricardo, Rafael found her, but she still feels lost. Eduardo thought he no longer liked Maria, but after what he has done he cannot turn the clock back. João lacks the courage to breakup with his girlfriend and takes refuge in the song he is writing for Inês. Marco struggles to get another young man’s love, but he is under no illusions. Samuel believes in everlasting love but something is wrong because his friends haven’t heard from him for sometime. Inês, attempting to feel safe, likes to experiment and she's waiting to see how things go with João. With all this going on, how could the band not be falling apart...?

This is the story of a young Mozambican footballer called Eusébio, a gifted athlete destined to great achievements, coveted by rival clubs, Sporting and Benfica, which ends up hiring him. Blackmail, kidnapping attempts, ministers involved, press hysteria and huge money offers make the story of this football transfer into a saga evolving between the two continents. It ends up when the legend begins: with Eusébio’s first match at the Benfica Stadium.

Antonio runs away from home and tries to spend the night at his ex-girlfriend's apartment. There he finds a brazilian girl, an unexpected guest. Johnny is struggling to stage his first theater play in Lisbon. His friendship with the young light technician will make him face his real problems. Débora is passing by, finally returning home. When she goes to the theater, she falls asleep, and is awaken by the protagonist. Three dimensions of the same story.

Can a turtle, the most pacific animal on earth, start a range of significant events that are going to forever change a couple's life? After dividing all their assets, Arnaldo e Barbara still have one decision to make before they formalize their separation: what to do with the turtle? Amongst hesitation and failed solutions, unintended burglaries, police stations, plastic natures and misunderstandings, a single turtle fate is postponing this couple's separation. Because they know that, when they give the turtle back to its natural habitat, their relationship will be over. Are they ready for that last step?

“An old photograph taken 36 years ago. His hand rests on my shoulder. A blessing, a gift. Then a history of over four decades of friendship, admiration and apprenticeship. A journey into Oliveira’s cinema, his method, his way of filming and his extraordinary cinematic inventions. He lived for over a century, over a century of cinema, cinema in its entirety. For him, and for me too now, documentary and fiction films go hand in hand; it is all about cinema. So I had the audacity to film a magnificent story that Manoel loved but never filmed, one that he left behind as if his hand and eyes were close to God, or among the gods, and he was steering me.” - João Botelho