A Wonderful Kingdom

Ostensibly a film about heritage winemaking, A Wonderful Kingdom is really a love letter to Portugal. My mother’s family hails from the Douro Valley, where wine has been produced continuously since the 1700s.

Naturally, given the history, winemaking is woven into the fabric of the culture, and even into the very contours of the land. But it is also a living metaphor for the bounty that can spring from the harshest conditions, the rewards that can be reaped after long labor, and the symbiotic relationship between humans and the land that nourishes them.

For me, the valley’s fall grape harvest epitomizes this relationship and represents the peak of the year’s activity for this isolated, and normally very quiet region.

It also underscores the importance of tradition: how it shapes the character of a land and tempers the spirit of a people. 

In the Douro Valley, that spirit is rugged and enduring. Generation after generation, despite the dust, drought, extreme weather, and harsh land, the labors of winemaking yield beauty, joy, and unique varieties that delight the senses of people all over the world. It is this triumph of the human will to create something of value through hard work and cooperation, under tough conditions, that inspired me to make this film. It is an homage to the Transmontanos, the sons and daughters of the terrain, the magic makers, the ones who leave their mark on some of the most celebrated wines of the Old World, and are the unassuming builders of their “kingdom.” 

Though I live and work in New York City, I have always been and remain enamored with Portugal. Ultimately, I wanted to create a film that would prompt Portuguese viewers to say, with pride, “Yes, that is my Portugal,” and move many more non-Portuguese viewers to acknowledge: “Indeed, that is a Wonderful Kingdom. That is a place I would like to know more about.”