Horizons / Duas vezes João Liberada / Portugal 2025
João wins the main part in a period drama about the gender-nonconforming João Liberada, a character persecuted by the Portuguese inquisition. As the film’s production moves forward, the actress finds herself getting into conflict with the director over how the legacy of this character – who, though fictitious, is inspired by historical records – should be depicted. Her critical stance embodies the central dilemma of Paula Tomás Marques’s debut feature: can one properly express the subjectivity of a queer individual when the very existence of queer people has not been reflected by history – in fact, has been denied by it? Her inventively layered film asks pertinent questions about the complex nature of telling historical stories while coming up with its own queer counter-history.
Sandra Hezinová
70 min / Color, Black & White, DCP
Director Paula Tomás Marques
/ Screenplay June João, Paula Tomás Marques
/ Dir. of Photography Fresco Mafalda
/ Music Maria João Petrucci, Rodrigo Vaiapraia
/ Sound Marcelo Tavares
/ Editor Jorge Jácome
/ Art Director Eloísa d'Ascensão
/ Producer Cristiana Cruz Forte, Paula Tomás Marques
/ Coproduction Fúria de Boi, Casa Estrela, Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola
/ Cast June João, André Tecedeiro, Jenny Larrue, Alice Azevedo, Caio Amado, Eloísa d'Ascensão, Tiago Aires Lêdo
/ Sales Portugal Film - Portuguese Film Agency
Paula Tomás Marques. Selected filmography: Barehanded (Sem Armas, 2016, short), Cabra Cega (2021, short), When We Dead Awaken (2022, short doc.), Dildotectonics (Dildotectónica, 2023), Two Times João Liberada (Duas vezes João Liberada, 2025).
Portugal Film - Portuguese Film Agency
Casa de Cinema, 1200-385, Lisboa
Portugal
Phone: +351 213 466 172
E-mail: [email protected]
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