Tó, a black boy from Zona J, a tough neighborhood in Lisbon, falls in love with a white girl, Carla. Tó dreams of living in Angola and taking Carla with him. However, the reality the two teens are in complicates their plans...
Acting
Núria Madruga's Carla breaks your heart without trying.
Production
Zona J itself: a character of concrete, graffiti, and dead ends.
Director
Leonel Vieira
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zona J was one of the first Portuguese films to center Black Portuguese experience, released as Portugal confronted its colonial past and racist present. The neighborhood itself was real and notorious.
Director Leonel Vieira shot on location with actual Zona J residents; the authenticity of despair wasn't performed, it was borrowed. This makes the final act's tragedy hit harder.
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