Portugal – Melancholy is a theme based documentary directed by Dr Louis Lam, a medical expeditionist and cultural anthropologist who travels all over the world to tell inspirational stories about the local people and culture, their views about themselves versus the world, and current issues that reflect much wider influences. It explores the meaning of melancholy and sadness through the Portuguese word “Saudade” stemming from a long history of its maritime supremacy and the resulting parting of people from their families. Ironically, sadness to the Portuguese can be a happy feeling of longing and remembering. The film follows two individuals, Pedro Nogueria from Porto, and Vanessa Campelos from Braga through their daily lives and families. It goes back in history in Porto to the Age of Discovery and its glorious era to an over-stretched nation that declared bankruptcy twice, gaining the name “Cidade Invicta”, the invincible city. Along the theme, it also takes us to a gastronomic journey that is so connected to our emotion, such as the famous tripe stew, Tripas a Moda do Porto at Pombeiro, cod fish, Cachorrinhos the tiny sandwiches, and Francesinha, a special sandwich with gravy and egg yolk. It takes the audience to the fishing village of Matosinhos, north of Porto about the symbol of “She Changes” as the giant fishing net and the seafood fresh from the ocean. To the east is the important Duoro Valley and its river through which the famous regional Portuguese wines have been transported for generations. It takes us to the suburban towns of Lamego with its spectacular staircase architecture and the suckling pigs of Baihadda region as well as Coimbra, with its oldest university founded in 1290 where an talk takes place at a local restaurant to taste the local Shafana, a lamb stew in red wine. Their philosophy of Saudade is also reflected in the musical art of Fado in which melancholic tones are sung longing for the loved ones at sea. Finally, the film ends in the Minho region in the north where a dinner is spent with a local Portuguese family with the grandmother expressing her feeling of Saudade for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Filmed November, 2023.