Film about slaves in Lagos «Tales of Oblivion» premieres in cinemas in July

«Tales of Oblivion», a documentary directed by Dulce Fernandes and inspired by the history of slaves in Lagos, premieres in Portuguese cinemas on July 3rd.

This work delves into the collective memory and historical silences surrounding Portugal's role in the transatlantic slave trade.

The film's starting point is the discovery, in 2009, of a set of 158 skeletons of enslaved Africans (men, women and children) in a 15th century urban rubbish dump in Lagos, during the construction of a car park.

“Tales of Oblivion” is constructed through archive images, contemporary records and immersive soundscapes, inviting the public to reflect on the violence of the past and the impact of absences in official history.

“I was born in Angola in 1973, at the time a territory under Portuguese colonial rule. As the daughter of Portuguese settlers in a land occupied and exploited for centuries, I feel deeply marked by the experience of colonialism. As a filmmaker, I am interested in investigating Europe’s colonial past (Portugal in particular), the constructions of collective memory and the traces of that past in the present,” says director Dulce Fernandes.

The film was selected for several international festivals, such as IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Netherlands); Bergamo Film Meeting (Italy); Crossing Europe Film Festival; Linz (Austria); Ethnocineca International Documentary Film Festival Vienna (Austria); and Mumbai International Film Festival (India).

In Portugal, it premiered at IndieLisboa 2024, where it received a Special Mention from the Árvore da Vida Jury.

In cinemas, “Tales of Oblivion” will be preceded by the screening of the short film “Time to Change”, a six-minute work in which Angolan director and screenwriter Pocas Pascoal proposes a look at colonialism, capitalism and their impact on global biodiversity.

This short film had its national premiere at Curtas Vila do Conde in 2024.

On the international circuit, this film was selected for the RIDM – Montreal International Documentary Festival (2024) and the Clermont-Ferrand Festival (2025), among others.