Portuguese movie at Singapore Film Festival

The 36th Singapore International Film Festival was held from November 26 to December 7, 2025. Although the SIFF is known for its focus on Asian filmmakers and promotion of Southeast Asian films, it also includes in its programming notable independent and non-commercial films from around the world. On December 6, with the support of the Portuguese Embassy in Singapore, the SIFF presented the Portuguese movie O riso e a faca, known in English as "I Only Rest in the Storm", by director Pedro Pinho.

At the invitation of Portuguese Ambassador H.E. Carlos Pires, the main actor, Sérgio Coragem, was present in person for a Q&A session after the screening. This was Coragem's first visit to Singapore, and he shared the fact that he does not like flying. The character that he plays, also called Sérgio, is a Portuguese environmental engineer who takes a job in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, and has a complicated relationship with two locals.

Sérgio explained why the film's name in English is not a direct translation of the Portuguese. O riso e a faca literally means "the laughter and the knife", and comes from the title of a classic Brazilian song by Tom Zé. However, it was felt that such a title didn't sound great in English, and so another phrase in the song, "eu só descanso na tempestade", was used instead: "I only rest in the storm".

Actress Cleo Diára won the Un Certain Regard Best Actress prize at Cannes for playing Diara, the main female protagonist. Check out the trailer: