The film takes place in Tourém, a frontier village at the border between Portugal and Spain. As one of the last villages on Portuguese territory, Tourém owns several paths to its Galician neighbour villages. Tourém has a reputation as the “smugglers’ nest”; many villagers who are still inhabitants there nowadays were involved in the business in the past.

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The interviews focused on the topic of smuggling from a personal perspective. Paulo, the shop owner, remembers many stories about his father, who was one of the biggest dealers in the business, and the thriving big actions they had participated in together. Although Paulo keeps a nostalgia for the past days, many of his fellow villagers, who used to be carriers and took real risks smuggling into the mountain, have different perspectives. Teresa’s family suffered hunger, and her smuggling stories are full of obstacles from the fiscal guards. Jaime used to be the mayor of Tourém, he entered the business as a carrier and still remembers vividly the muddy first work with a box of Marlborough…

 

The film presents selected interviews with people who live in Tourém and have known each other for their entire lives. They are from different classes and participated in smuggling in different roles. They remember the same events, but sometimes their opinions contradict. It focuses on a micro-universe, a small scope that looks into a small village, but through it, we aim to build a bigger picture of Portugal's memory.

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FESTIVALS:
- IndieLisboa International Film Festival 2024, Lisbon, Portugal. National Competition.

- MDOC Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival​​ 2024, Melgaço, Portugal. Competition.

- MDOC São Paulo 2024, São Paulo, Brazil.

- Shortcutz Lisboa #404, Lisbon, Portugal.

- Short/Age #56, Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

- Beijing International Short Film Festival 2025, Beijing, China. Chinese Competition.

- Ethnografilm Paris 2025, Paris, France.

- Trento Film Festival 2025, Trento, Italy. Highland.