Tagline:

A middle aged man reconnects with his dysfunctional family when he opens the door of his small flat to his estranged son and the father who once rejected him.

Synopsis:

Rodrigo is a male sex worker who lives in peace with his solitude, between fleeting relationships with his clients. But everything changes when he takes in Rafa, his teenage son and saxophonist, who comes to Lisbon with the aim of being admitted to a prestigious jazz school. Rodrigo disguises past mistakes and wounds and Rafa hides a secret, which Rodrigo soon finds out: Rafa got a girl pregnant in his hometown of Guimarães and he is unwilling to take responsibility. As if that wasn’t enough, a few days later Rodrigo is forced to take in his father João, a sick pianist who disinherited him and now needs shelter after carelessly setting fire to the house where he used to live. As Rafa prepares a major saxophone solo for an audition with the help of João, who sees his grandson as a way of escaping death, Rodrigo tries to act as the father he never was. But Rafa builds a wall around him, and Rodrigo feels left out. Unable to communicate with his father and son, he feels a stranger in his own home. Rodrigo goes through a succession of relationships - with customers and with his best friend - looking for a real connection, a kind of redemption. Now aware of the unhappiness that is settling into the solitude he always cherished. But when João is rushed to the hospital, distraught, Rodrigo and Rafa have an unlikely yet cathartic jam session that brings them together for the first time. And when the audition arrives, Rodrigo picks his father at the hospital and takes him to see Rafa, who passes the test. Everything seems perfect: Rodrigo won his son’s affection and Rafa now contemplates a future alongside his father and grandfather; but Rodrigo feels compelled to act. Rafa is going to be a father wether he likes it or not. Rodrigo gives him the time and space to decide - either to do the right thing; or to stay in Lisbon, now that they can be father and son. Next morning when he wakes up, Rodrigo is alone again. With a piece of happiness.

Project representatives:

Maria João Mayer (Producer)
Sebastião Salgado (Director)