São João — “Saint John” — is Porto’s biggest celebration of the year, a centuries-old tradition held every June 23.
For one night, thousands pour into the streets for music, dancing, grilled sardines, fireworks and the playful tradition of tapping strangers with plastic hammers.
The celebration continues well past midnight, often until sunrise.
After São João begins the next morning.
WHAT IS AFTER SÃO JOÃO?
After São João is an eight-chapter cinematic series in development set in Porto, Portugal.
This two-minute experimental pilot episode introduces the story, told through text messages without spoken dialogue.
SYNOPSIS: The morning after São João, Miguel wakes to discover that the woman he spent the night with is gone. But she's left something behind. Then the messages from his boss begin. Miguel has a choice to make.
SPOILER ALERT — WATCH THE FILM FIRST
IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES?
That’s the idea.
This first episode was created as a proof of concept and ends on a cliffhanger. There are several directions the story could go, but we know Miguel’s decision to lie has consequences. And the mysterious note leaves him unsure who he can trust.
What happens next? There are plenty of possibilities.
WHY TELL THE STORY THIS WAY?
There’s no spoken dialogue. The story unfolds through performance, cinematography, text messages, sound and music, with the viewer experiencing Porto alongside Miguel.
It’s also an experiment to see if this kind of cinematic storytelling can work in the short-form world.
JOIN THE PROJECT
The goal is to expand After São João with a small creative and production team in Porto.
Since text message design is a large part of the storytelling, the project especially needs people working in SFX, sound design, post-production and VFX/motion graphics who might be excited to help develop the series.
If you're interested, let's meet and talk about it!