Private Project

Terra Vil

In a community recently shaken by a local tragedy, 12-year-old João and his alcoholic father make a living from fishing. However, the effects of climate change on the business, the ghosts of their past and the father’s increasingly erratic behavior could lead to their separation. In the house next door, João meets an unlikely family that could be his only hope for a different future.

  • Luís Campos
    Director
    Monte Clérigo, Carga, Boca Cava Terra
  • Luís Campos
    Writer
  • Luís Campos
    Producer
  • Ana Almeida
    Producer
  • Luigi Chimienti
    Producer
  • Alessandro Amato
    Producer
  • Mário Patrocínio
    Producer
  • Humberto Rocha
    Producer
  • Pedro Medeiros
    Producer
  • Marta Lima
    Producer
  • Nuno Tavares
    Producer
  • William Cesnek
    Key Cast
  • Rúben Gomes
    Key Cast
  • Lúcia Moniz
    Key Cast
  • Francisca Sobrinho
    Key Cast
  • Beatriz Relvas
    Key Cast
  • Pedro Patrocínio
    Cinematographer
  • Cláudia Silvestre
    Editor
  • Maura Carneiro
    Production Designer
  • Emiliano Mazzenga
    Original Music Composer
  • Bernardo Theriaga
    Sound Director
  • Stefano Polidoro
    Sound Designer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Terra Vil
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama, Coming of Age, Sustainability
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 41 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 3, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    650,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Portugal
  • Country of Filming:
    Portugal
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • São Paulo International Film Festival
    São Paulo
    Brazil
    October 18, 2025
    World Premiere
    New Directors Competition
  • Tribeca Festival Lisbon
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    October 31, 2025
    National Premiere
  • Tallinn Black Nights - PÖFF
    Tallinn
    Estonia
    November 10, 2025
    European Premiere
    Just Film Youth Competition
  • Göteborg Film Festival
    Göteborg
    Sweden
    January 27, 2026
    Swedish Premiere
    Bergman Competition
Distribution Information
  • Films4You
    Distributor
    Country: Portugal
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Luís Campos

Luís Campos is an awarded filmmaker, PhD in Media Arts and alumnus of EAVE Producers Workshop, Berlinale Talents, Rotterdam Lab, ZFF Academy, Locarno Match Me and ACE Producers Mentoring Programme. He is the founder of GUIÕES – Portuguese Language Screenplay Festival, PLOT – Professional Script Lab and DRAMA.pt, and has had experience in film development and production at renowned companies such as RT Features (Brazil), Savage Film (Belgium), BRO Cinema and SPi (Portugal) before founding his own production company Matiné in 2023.

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Director Statement

My goal with this film is to reflect, from the perspective of a body/personality under construction, a moral dilemma that may prompt reflection on the definitions of oppression and masculinity that derive from a patriarchal society and promote the condemnation of youth and female freedom. I intend to question the views of a male-led society regarding behaviour towards the opposite sex and how some pre-established moral conventions related to how we deal with others are more complex than they seem. I don't think of Terra Vil as a film with simple answers, but rather one with uncomfortable questions that stimulate positive change. As a kind of necessary exorcism, in the sense that I believe we need to face (and accept) the fact that some of the foundations of our collective history are underpinned by mistaken preconceptions. Therefore, Terra Vil is a film that will make us face ghosts in their many different forms. The ghosts of tragedy and the victims of the collapse of the Hintze Ribeiro bridge in 2001. The ghosts of our parental figures that haunt the formation of our identity. The ghosts of an underdeveloped and ostracised rurality. The ghosts of a patriarchal society that perpetuates an idea of phallic power. And, above all, the structural ghosts that enable a reality of gender/domestic violence - a fundamental and increasingly relevant issue in Portugal, which has been more absent from public debate than one might suppose or expect in the 21st century. Things need to change.