About

Miguel Gomes's ambitious Arabian Nights trilogy blends high fantasy with passionate political commentary to render a portrayal of modern Portugal as ravaged by the global economic crisis. The first part of the trilogy, 'The Restless One', opens with Gomes himself supervising a documentary on the closure of a Portuguese shipyard. He is soon replaced as the narrator by the character of Scheherazade – the storyteller from the original One Thousand and One Nights folk tales, who recited countless stories to a murderous king in order to escape death – who takes the film in a more fantastical direction. Under her narrative guidance, the film shifts to three satirical tales of life: from IMF enforcers struggling to improve their libidos, to the trial of an early-crowing cockerel, to brothers bathing in the icy Atlantic Ocean. While Gomes may utilise the structure of fairy tales, it is clear that his intention is to address the real world issues plaguing his home country of Portugal.

Ages 18+