Plot

A Cape Verdean woman navigates her way through Lisbon, following the scanty physical traces her deceased husband left behind and discovering his secret, illicit life.

Vitalina Varela takes its title from the name of its lead actress, a Cape Verdean woman who, as per usual with Costa's non-professional actors, plays a fictionalized version of herself. Vitalina first appeared in an episode in the director's previous film, Horse Money (Wavelengths 2015), wherein she recounted how her husband had left their homeland nearly 25 years ago to work in Lisbon - a separation that became permanent when she finally arrived on the continent, three days after his funeral. In Vitalina Varela, Costa refracts and expands that episode to place us firmly within his heroine's stoic point of view, capturing her extraordinary strength and resilience as she navigates the scanty physical traces her husband left behind, discovers his secret, illicit life, and encounters the other lives that darken the shadows of the Fontainhas that once was.—Toronto International Film Festival

Playing herself in an extraordinary performance based on her own life, Vitalina Varela marries first love, Joaquim, and spends her life working the land in the mountains of the Island of Santiago, Cape Verde. In 1977, Joaquim journeys to Portugal seeking work alongside other island men. Like all the village girls, Vitalina remains behind waiting and longing for a happy family life with him and their two children. Joaquim buys a shack in the suburbs of Lisbon with his first savings and promises to send for her. They lose touch. Rumors swirl. 35 years later, Vitalina finally arrives-three days after his funeral. Isolated and struggling to survive illegally, she answers a knock on her door and comes face to face with filmmaker Pedro Costa. Winner of the Golden Leopard for Best Film and Best Actress at the Locarno Film Festival.—Mae Moreno

Seeking redemption and closure after two long decades of estrangement from her husband Joaquim, sad-eyed Vitalina leaves Cape Verde and arrives in Lisbon to reunite with the man who promised her the stars and the moon. Instead, she discovers she is three days too late: Vitalina has just missed his burial. As the stoic woman meanders through the impoverished neighbourhood to piece together Joaquim's last days, thwarted dreams and broken promises shape a new reality. Now, Vitalina has to make up her mind. Should she return home or stay to confront the ghosts of the past, forgive and forget?—Nick Riganas