Lusitanian Illusion

Images and sounds expose the duality of Portugal during the days of WW2: a peaceful, god-loving, rural country, providing an escape route for over one hundred thousand European refugees to the Americas; and a political and cultural elite that disguised their Nazi inclinations just enough to play its neutral role in international politics.

Documentary History

António de Oliveira Salazar

(Self (archive footage))

Américo Tomás

(Self - President of the Republic (archive footage))

Hanna Schygulla

(Erika Mann (voice))

Rüdiger Vogler

(Alfred Döblin (voice))

Christian Patey

(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (voice))

Annabella

(Self (archive footage))

Danielle Darrieux

(Self (archive footage))

Louis Jouvet

(Self (archive footage))

Robert Montgomery

(Self (archive footage))

Madeleine Ozeray

(Self (archive footage))

António Lopes Ribeiro

(Self (archive footage))

Tyrone Power

(Self (archive footage))

Simone Simon

(Self (archive footage))