A Mãe (The Mother) 1979. Portugal. Directed by João César Monteiro. Screenplay by Monteiro, based on a traditional folktale from Contos Tradicionais Portugueses by Carlos de Oliveira and José Gomes Ferreira. 35mm. In Portuguese; English subtitles. 27 min.
Os Dois Soldados (The Two Soldiers). 1979. Portugal. Directed by João César Monteiro. Screenplay by Monteiro, based on a traditional folktale from Contos Tradicionais Portugueses by Carlos de Oliveira and José Gomes Ferreira. DCP. In Portuguese; English subtitles. 27 min.
O Amor Das Três Romãs (The Love of the Three Pomegranates). 1979. Portugal. Directed by João César Monteiro. Screenplay by Monteiro, based on a traditional folktale from Contos Tradicionais Portugueses by Carlos de Oliveira and José Gomes Ferreira. With Margarida Gil, Helena Domingos, Joana Oliveira, Sílvia Ferreira. DCP. In Portuguese; English subtitles. 27 min.
Soon after venturing into the Portuguese countryside for his fable-inspired Trails, Monteiro directed three short films for national public television, adapting traditional folk tales and further developing his interest in capturing their contemporary qualities in realistic settings. In other words, familiar and political power structures, corrupt parental figures, and the presence of poetic bliss in the physical, decaying expressions of family bonds, resorting to non-actors to film a forbidden, provocative crime in The Mother, a betrayal between two deserters in The Two Soldiers, and the contradictions of eternal love in the medieval, theatrical setting of The Love of the Three Pomegranates.