Cleonise Malulo

The story takes place near Lisbon, in the mid-16th century. Bela, an adopted young man, tries to find his place in a family that is free, but trapped in a world where each shadow allows imperfections to shine through.

When the hotel where workaholic Catarina works is sold, she needs to show her skills to manage unprofessional staff, look after eccentric guests and deal with ghosts from the past, which are brought back by the visit of an unexpected friend.

At the end of the nineteenth century, two inexperienced Portuguese colonizers, with a vague intention of civilizing the colonies, disembark in a remote part of the Congo River in order to coordinate a trading post. As time goes by, they become increasingly demoralized by their inability to profit from the ivory trade. A mutual feeling of distrust and misunderstadings with the locals isolate them at the heart of the tropical jungle. Faced with each other, they begin a journey towards the abyss.

Pérola (39 years), a female lawyer, return to Angola, for her younger sister´s “Alambamento” (traditional Angolan ceremony where dowries and promises are exchanged between a couple) more than 20 years living abroad. On coming back, she realises that she does not fit in that environment anymore. The world that saw her come to life is now uncomfortable. In the beginning, she remains apart, watching all her parents do and say in a judgmental way, but as the party unfolds, Pérola starts to see the beauty of the place. That land and it´s People reveal a charm that she was not expecting and suddenly she understands that all her loneliness and emptiness she has felt all those years was only her home beckoning her back.