The Heart’s Root

Written as an urban fable, this musical comedy imagines Lisbon in the then-near future of 2010. Catão, a charismatic and unscrupulous nationalist politician, becomes obsessed with Sílvia, a young transgender woman protected by Ju, an enigmatic figure who makes a living through petty blackmail. When compromising photographs of Catão begin to circulate among the opposition parties, his interest in Sílvia threatens to jeopardize his political career. One of Paulo Rocha’s final works, The Heart’s Root highlights the experimental spirit that characterizes the second half of the filmmaker’s filmography.

Screening followed by a talk with Regina Guimarães (the film’s screenwriter) and Raquel Morais (Cinemateca Portuguesa)