An intense journey through the past and future of the S. João de Deus Neighborhood, Tarrafal is a living proof of Porto’s contemporary history. The director, Pedro Neves, seeks to introduce himself in the lives of those who inhabit this place, only to live side by side their hopes and frustrations. Here is seen a trace of ruins that evokes the memories concerning the neighborhood’s identity, even if its social and human decadence has been awfully devastating. In that same aspect, there is a common point in every conversation, song and even practice that are portrayed: heroin; that destructive drug that tears down the collective structure. The film becomes surrounding for its techniques of getting close to people, leaving them to be part of the story: it is their own film too, a film of their own imaginary. In that gesture there is a whisper of life, a will to find a future, because these people won’t disappear, neither this urban places where it is difficult to find that future will.  (Daniel Ribas)