Cartas na Mesa

Synopsis

Cartas na Mesa was the second film by Rogério Ceitil, made in 1973 within the context of the Centro Português de Cinema. Presented at the Santarém Film Festival and immediately banned by censorship, it reflects, and integrates into its narrative, the world of Portuguese cinema in the 1970s.

Based on a script by Rogério Ceitil, written in collaboration with Fernando Assis Pacheco—who also appears in the film as the editor-in-chief—Cartas na Mesa brings us back to the Lisbon reality of Portugal at the time. It centres on a journalist, Jorge (José Jorge Letria), working in a newsroom (that of "República", here representing an anonymous Lisbon newspaper), who follows a series of reportage assignments accompanied by a photographer, António. Through them, the film takes the pulse of various “current affairs”: from the worlds of popular culture, music, and cinema to corruption in real estate development, as well as smaller episodes such as that of a cyclist circling the Campo Pequeno arena, attempting to break a record that might attract a potential sponsor.