The European Union Monitoring Desk
Islamabad : Cultural Reporter – The Embassy of Portugal in Islamabad participated in the EU Film Festival 2026, celebrating European cinema and cultural diversity in Pakistan.
Ambassador Paulo Domingues participated in the opening ceremony and, on the second day of the Festival in Islamabad, presented Portuguese films to the audience.
Portuguese films are also scheduled to be screened in Sialkot, providing audiences in both cities with an opportunity to discover Portuguese cinema and its rich cultural heritage.
The screenings attracted a large and engaging audience, with participants demonstrating keen interest in the films and actively engaging with the cultural programme.
The Embassy’s participation reflects Portugal’s commitment to promoting cultural exchange and strengthening people-to-people ties between Portugal, Pakistan and the wider European community.
The Ambassador of Portugal to Pakistan is Paulo Domingues breifed the participants about the movies in a large number at Pakistan National Council of Arts PNCA Islamabad.
Young Lady (originally titled Menina) is a 2016 Portuguese short drama film directed and written by Simão Cayatte.
Movie Details : Lisbon, 1971 (during late-era authoritarian rule in Portugal). Runtime: 15 minutes. Cast: Joana Santos, Pedro Carmo, Sílvia Filipe, and Iris Cayatte.
Awards: Won the Portuguese Academy Award (Sophia Award) for Best Short Fiction and featured internationally, including selection by the Académie des César.
Plot Summary :Follows a young housewife in Lisbon in 1971.She begins to question if there is more to life beyond her husband, her baby, and her domestic routine.She ventures out to discover a hidden side of the city and a personal reality that changes her outlook permanently,
How Fernando Pessoa Saved Portugal (Portuguese: Como Fernando Pessoa Salvou Portugal) is a 2018 satirical short film directed and written by Eugène Green. The 27-minute biographical drama-comedy blends historical facts with absurdist fiction to explore a bizarre moment in Portuguese cultural history.
The Premise: Set in Lisbon in 1927, the story follows the famed modernist poet Fernando Pessoa (played by Carloto Cotta), who takes on a commercial gig for his day-job employer. He is tasked with creating an advertising slogan for a newly imported American soft drink named “Coca-Louca” (a parody of Coca-Cola).
The Conflict: Pessoa’s witty marketing slogan accidentally causes mass panic within Portugal’s deeply conservative, authoritarian government. Officials view the sweet, mysterious foreign drink as a diabolical, revolutionary threat to Portuguese traditionalism and Catholicism.
The Real-Life Connection: The short film is based on real events. In 1927, the actual Fernando Pessoa wrote a slogan for Coca-Cola (“Primeiro estranha-se, depois entranha-se” / “First it’s strange, then it gets inside you”). The authoritarian regime found it so unsettlingly seductive that they banned Coca-Cola from Portugal entirely—a ban that lasted for 40 years until the country returned to democracy.
Production & Credits: Director & Screenplay by Eugène Green, Main Cast : Carloto Cotta (as Fernando Pessoa), Manuel Mozos, Diogo Dória, Mia Tomé, Runtime : 27 minutes, Country of Origin : Portugal / France / Belgium, Cinematography by Raphaël O’Byrne.
