Environmental engineer Sérgio travels to Guinea-Bissau to oversee a road construction project
linking the desert to the jungle. For the locals, his work is seen as a continuation of colonial
practice, while Sérgio – a white Portuguese man in West Africa – sinks ever deeper into an
identity crisis. Where does he truly belong? As tensions rise between locals and outsiders, two
residents – Gi and Diara, wearing her blond wig – become Sérgio’s only refuge. This ambitious
study of neocolonialism is the latest film by one of Portugal’s most compelling contemporary
directors, Pedro Pinho, presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard program.
Pedro Pinho
Pedro Pinho studied at the Lisbon Theatre and Film School and at the Louis Lumière Institute,
later completing postgraduate studies in directing and screenwriting in London. He co-directed
Bab Sebta, awarded at the FID Marseille Festival, and in 2009 co-founded the production
company Terratreme. His films have screened at the Berlinale, IndieLisboa, Doclisboa, and
many other festivals. His debut feature, The Nothing Factory, premiered in the Directors’
Fortnight at Cannes, while I Only Rest in the Storm was presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard
program.
Environmental engineer Sérgio travels to Guinea-Bissau to oversee a road construction project
linking the desert to the jungle. For the locals, his work is seen as a continuation of colonial
practice, while Sérgio – a white Portuguese man in West Africa – sinks ever deeper into an
identity crisis. Where does he truly belong? As tensions rise between locals and outsiders, two
residents – Gi and Diara, wearing her blond wig – become Sérgio’s only refuge. This ambitious
study of neocolonialism is the latest film by one of Portugal’s most compelling contemporary
directors, Pedro Pinho, presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard program.
Pedro Pinho
Pedro Pinho studied at the Lisbon Theatre and Film School and at the Louis Lumière Institute,
later completing postgraduate studies in directing and screenwriting in London. He co-directed
Bab Sebta, awarded at the FID Marseille Festival, and in 2009 co-founded the production
company Terratreme. His films have screened at the Berlinale, IndieLisboa, Doclisboa, and
many other festivals. His debut feature, The Nothing Factory, premiered in the Directors’
Fortnight at Cannes, while I Only Rest in the Storm was presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard
program.
linking the desert to the jungle. For the locals, his work is seen as a continuation of colonial
practice, while Sérgio – a white Portuguese man in West Africa – sinks ever deeper into an
identity crisis. Where does he truly belong? As tensions rise between locals and outsiders, two
residents – Gi and Diara, wearing her blond wig – become Sérgio’s only refuge. This ambitious
study of neocolonialism is the latest film by one of Portugal’s most compelling contemporary
directors, Pedro Pinho, presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard program.
Pedro Pinho
Pedro Pinho studied at the Lisbon Theatre and Film School and at the Louis Lumière Institute,
later completing postgraduate studies in directing and screenwriting in London. He co-directed
Bab Sebta, awarded at the FID Marseille Festival, and in 2009 co-founded the production
company Terratreme. His films have screened at the Berlinale, IndieLisboa, Doclisboa, and
many other festivals. His debut feature, The Nothing Factory, premiered in the Directors’
Fortnight at Cannes, while I Only Rest in the Storm was presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard
program.