#4 Mangifera

Theo, Lena, Ben, Nina and their Guga friends have the exciting mission of discovering the food group kingdoms and returning nutritious food to their city where no food exists under the rule of super villain Alex Grand.

Strike on the red carpet.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1950. In the conservative home of the Gusmão family, Eurídice and Guida are two inseparable sisters who support each other. While Guida can share with her younger sister the details of her romantic adventures, Eurídice finds in her older sister the encouragement she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a professional pianist.

Lisbon, 2027. Marta and Miguel are both researchers that are part of a scientific group and a couple in their private lives. Their relationship will be put to the test on one decisive night when the parameters that Marta is analyzing point to the very high probability of a major earthquake hitting Lisbon. The group splits, debating whether or not to warn the population of the possible impending tragedy.

Portugal, 1968. Salazar, the fascist dictator who reigned the longest time in the world, falls from a chair and suffers a stroke. When he returns to the São Bento mansion to convalesce, he is no longer President of the Council. But no one tells him the truth: not his faithful housekeeper Maria de Jesus, nor his maids Aparecida, Socorro, and Teresinha, nor his personal doctor. For two years he lives under a meticulously constructed illusion, believing he is still President, until his death in 1970.

Contemplating the failure of his life, Rogério drinks until losing control of his actions and involves himself in a bar brawl. His alcoholic drift takes him to the city port, where he falls asleep while watching passing ships. When a young woman appears in the night, seemingly running from something, Rogério offers to help and enters a nightmare he never imagined it could become his.

Manô, an obscure and anonymous character from popular comedies of the 1920s, escapes the destruction of an old movie studio, materializing into the real world from a celluloid film. Manô tries to adapt and survive in present-day Lisbon, for which he is unprepared. Mariana, an unemployed photographer, meets Manô and tries to help him discover the reason for his return, despite Marco, a psychologist with little sense of humor, disliking this clumsy black-and-white character.

When successful writer Edu falls in love with a young hustler, Fabio, his initial fear is about contracting HIV, but emotional matters soon loom large as well.

Thirty-something Vítor still lives with his mother, Fátima, in his grandmother Júlia’s apartment. Fátima is a hairdresser with a quiet disposition who, at night, fantasises about the policeman who has just moved in next door. By day, Vítor is a lowly employee on a TV show. But at night, he dons his neighbour’s uniform to win the favour and satisfy the desires of a boy he’s met online. In her retirement home, Júlia is unable to sleep at night and has long forgotten what drugs she is meant to be taking. She misses her dead husband, who manifests himself in the body of a living friend, and gets involved in her daily activities. Through these characters, Diogo Costa Amarante constructs a fascinating portrait of lives lived while desires remain unrealised.

A Portuguese horror and fantasy anthology.

Leonor and Pedro, are young, in love and from different social classes. She is the daughter of a wealthy man. He is from a modest working class family. They experience an intense but dramatically short love affair. When Pedro discovers Leonor’s father’s secret – that he sexually abused a maid – he is the victim of a hit and run accident, leaving him in a deep coma for 5 years. He later awakens to find out that his girlfriend, who was told he had died in the accident, moved on with her life and married someone else, after several years of grieving.