The Love Circus

Through the letters received from friends and family who remained in Japan, the filmmaker recalls the past and reflects on moving to Portugal and leaving Tokyo.

A boy from Vila do Conde records a love letter on a cassette. His voice blends with music, archive images and stories from the past, some lived and others heard.

At 30, Jiro embarked on a year-long trip taking in the Soviet Union, North Africa, Europe, and the United States. Nearly half a century later, his daughter makes use of various memorabilia to take a step back in time and explore how such adventures have shaped the man’s take on the modern world.

In a small apartment in the city, a mother and her son live their own secret and silent routines, sharing these not even with each other. They would like to spend time together, perhaps even talk to each other, but he grows up with animals and planets, whereas she is always elsewhere. The long and circular days push them further inside themselves, but maybe the spark of an unexpected connection can still set them free.

At the edge of Paris, where the rivers of the Seine and Marne meet, Sheylla shares memories, encounters and feelings from the journeys that have brought her here. We can see that she’s preparing to leave again, but which path should she choose when she can go in any direction?

Bound by a silent pact, five students make a secret trip to the country for what seems to be an initiation ceremony. In threatening landscapes and abandoned ruins, they submit to the strange rituals of their leader, the Dux.

Five situations in the career of the professional boxer Jorge Pina. You get to meet Mário, an amateur boxer, Casteli the president of the boxing association, Vítor the coach, Jorge Pina himself and Magalhães the manager. You see them getting ready in the dressing room, the weighing in of the athletes, partying, the training, the gymnasiums and everything surrounding a less than clean fight.

The day starts in Lisbon and with it people return to the streets. These men live in a place which is not a home. Martins, the barber from Luanda, Simões with his spears, Manuel and his films and Francisco's silence share a place to rest, a shelter. They have some affinities with the outside world but they communicate through the words that they don't say. Perhaps the differences are clearest in everything that is silenced.

Several Portuguese creators occupy the director's chair in this collective short film shot during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in an unfolding of personal perspectives.