The Portuguese House (Previously Unreleased)

A gentle drama about second chances. Fernando is a shy geography professor in Barcelona with a particular fondness for paper maps. Those maps offer little guidance when, one morning, his wife packs her belongings and leaves without warning or explanation, leaving him adrift. Fernando decides to travel to northwestern Portugal, where he meets Manuel, a gardener who is about to start work at a beautiful old estate. When Manuel suddenly dies, Fernando impulsively assumes his identity. He travels to the quinta of the eccentric owner Amália, with whom he develops a unique and easygoing friendship.

This elegant, slightly melancholic drama moves at the unhurried pace of life on a Portuguese estate and is inspired by a true story. Rich in detail, the film is carried by the warm performances of Manolo Solo (Pan’s Labyrinth) and the ever-excellent Maria de Medeiros (Pulp Fiction), with a standout supporting role from Branka Katić (Black Cat, White Cat) as a spirited Serbian waitress with a free soul.

Avelina Prat (Valencia, 1972) is an architect, screenwriter, and filmmaker. After a career as a script supervisor on more than thirty feature films, she made her directorial debut with Vasil (2022), followed by The Portuguese House (Una quinta Portuguesa), which premiered at the Malaga Film Festival and was nominated for three Goya Awards, Spain’s most prestigious film honors.