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The Tsugua Diaries

Three close friends, Crista Carloto and João, along with an entire film crew, become the protagonists of a cinematic experiment shot during the lockdown. The film unfolds in reverse chronology—from end to beginning—and continues a career-long fascination for director Miguel Gomes (Arabian Nights) with the act of filmmaking. This time he teams up with his wife and creative partner, filmmaker Maureen Fazendeiro, for a sun-soaked metatextual celebration of the creative process and a hazy meditation on the lockdown blues. Shot in sumptuous 16mm during the pandemic, the film is one of the most playful cinematic creations of the period, for which personal restrictions provided a source of inspiration and pure joy in the creative process.