Arabian Nights – Vol. 1, The Restless One

Located on the edge of Europe, Portugal seems to exist not only at the end of the continent but, as some believe, at the end of the world. As Andrzej Stasiuk wrote, the former empire is today leading "a somewhat unreal life beyond the mainstream of history and events," longing for fulfillment and dreaming of past glory. The unreal nature attributed to Portugal is one of the subjects dealt with in the triptych by Miguel Gomes, who, in a loose interpretation, applies the poetic structure of A Thousand and One Nights to his homeland's recent history. In discussing contemporary Portugal, he focuses on the problem of the economic crisis that hit his country particularly hard in 2013-2014. He introduces this topic at the very beginning of his film odyssey in a documentary-style look at shipyard workers in Viana do Castelo who were the victims of mass layoffs. Their story is intertwined with that of Scheherazade, one of the many unusual figures in his gallery of curiosities, which also includes, among others, the figure of an African shaman, an exploding whale, and a dying siren.