Al Berto

Poet Alberto Raposo Pidwell Tavares (pen name Al Berto) is widely acclaimed across Southern Europe for authoring nearly twenty books between 1977 and the year of his death in 1997. Director Vicente Alves do Ó transports us to the the seaside town of Sines during the summer of 1975, where a young Al Berto returns after the recent fall of Portugal’s dictatorship. Al Berto has grand plans for his homecoming: opening an independent bookstore, transforming his abandoned familial home into a bohemian headquarters, and drawing the ruggedly handsome João Maria into his bed each night. But even during this progressive time of change, the locals are reluctant to accept Al Berto and his band of free-spirits into their small community.

Known for his lavish historic biopics, Alves do Ó recreates time and place with rich and sensual detail.