Wolf and Dog (Lobo e Cão)

In the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1000 miles west of Portugal, lies the Azores island of Sao Miguel. The Catholic community that resides there has held onto its traditions for centuries, until one summer, three queer teenagers disrupt their ancient rituals and expectations: Ana (Ana Cabral) questions the injustice of a strictly binary gender; their best friend Luis (Ruben Pimenta) rocks iconic gender fluid looks; and visitor from Canada Cloé (Cristiana Branquinho) brings the promise of love and a different future.

Award-winning Portuguese documentarian Cláudia Varejão fuses reality and fiction with dreamlike images in this fiction feature debut. Spinning a poetic tale, the film is steeped in place and resonates with a bittersweet truth that is underscored by the filmmaker’s choice to cast first-time performers from the island itself.