Alma Viva

A small village in the Portuguese mountains. A dead grandmother. And the discovery of her psychic abilities. What started as a normal summer vacation becomes a journey into the past for Salomé. While her relatives are planning her grandmother’s funeral, the girl is visited by her ghost. A disturbing legacy inherited by Salomé, as her grandmother was considered a witch in the village.
Alves Meira has created an extraordinary work about the connections between past and present. She masterfully interweaves the story of a family with the portrayal of a village that has arrived in modernity and yet cannot tear itself away from the fairy tales of the past. The result is a captivating film that uses beautiful images to transport us to a Portuguese summer. More than the images however the feelings resonate, wistfulness, hope, and perhaps a little trepidation.