Gabriel

Gabriel (Igor Regalla, 'Auga Seca', 'O Grande Circo Místico') is a young immigrant from the Cape Verde who moves to live with his aunt Alice (Mina Andala, 'A Única Mulher', 'Submersos') in the immigrant community of Olivais in Lisbon. Gabriel hopes to find his father, a once-promising prizefighter, and to embark on a boxing career of his own, but his father is nowhere to be found. With the help of a kindly sex worker, Gabriel decides to track him down.

One night, Gabriel gets into a fight with a local thug, Rui (José Condessa, 'Cenas de Família', 'Valor da Vida'), and Rui's drug-dealing boss sees an opportunity to make some extra cash by setting the two of them up in a boxing match. As the boxing match approaches, tensions between the men grow as they both fall for the same girl, Elisa (Ana Marta Ferreira, 'Vidas Opostas', 'A Teia').

'Gabriel' is a coming-of-age drama set in the cut-throat world of professional boxing as we watch the young Gabriel attempt to negotiate xenophobia, immigration and identity through the boxing gloves. 'Gabriel' is a Portuguese-language film written and directed by Nuno Bernardo, whose other works include 'Living in Your Car', 'Road to Revolution', 'Collider', 'Girl Heart Boy' and 'Aisling's Diary'.