Porto was one of the chosen scenarios for the shooting of the first feature film by young director Jotta Dúbio and independent production company Mauve Movies, which he founded in 2019 with Ricardo Conde.
Inspired by true stories, the film explores themes such as grief, loss, and family heritages. In this fiction, after his father’s death, Jorge (João Gadelha) decides to spend some time with his girlfriend (Mafalda Marafusta) in the house he inherited in the north of Portugal. There, he is confronted with childhood traumas and the legacy of his troubled relationship with his father. “This film is based on the idea of memories and the affection we give to places when it is not the places that matter, but the memories we have of them”, explains the director from Porto.
In Porto, the fiction is being filmed between the Agramonte Cemetery and Teatro do Bolhão. “Porto has an exceptional quality: it is perhaps the most film-friendly city in the country and probably in Europe. Anyone who wants to make an independent film in Porto will not find many obstacles. The entire process is very easy.”
The film began to take shape during the pandemic at a time when “artists were eager to create and move forward”. The project also counts with the actors Alexandra Lencastre, António Capelo, Soraia Sousa, Francisco Zaiden, Vlada Kikh and Vera Santana and Manuel Guerra (Art Director), Nikolas Gomes (Sound Director), João Ribeiro (Production Head), Laura Fonseca, Marisa Soares (Assistant Directors) and Alex Bukovac (Making of).
“O Laranjal” (The Orange Grove) will have its premiere between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, after joining the circuit of international film festivals.
