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Your new movie Autumn
- in a few words, what's it about?
Autumn is a dramatic comedy about a family that is turned upside down when
their son leaves to study in London.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing
Autumn, and is any of it based on personal experiences?
Autumn is actually very
personal. It came from my own experience of leaving Portugal to study in
London—full of hopes, big dreams, the usual. But life abroad wasn’t as
romantic as I imagined. It was tough. Really tough. Still, every time I’d
come back home, my parents would ask how things were going and I’d smile
and say, “Yeah, good. All good.” And they’d do the same when I asked about
them. “Yeah, yeah, good.” But with time, I started realising that it
wasn’t good. We were all struggling in our own ways—and no one would say
it out loud. It was almost taboo to talk about it, because “It’s just how
life is.”
Eventually, I started opening up to friends, and I realised they were all
going through similar things. It felt like there was this shared silence
around hardship, especially within families. That’s when I knew there was
something honest and universal here, something worth exploring through film. Which
one of the four protagonists in Autumn
can you actually identify with the most, and why?
One of the things I’m proudest of in
Autumn
is how it gives space to each family member’s perspective. So, while
writing, I really had to connect with all four characters on a deep level
for the story to feel truthful. But obviously, at first, I naturally
identified more with the kids—their frustration, the need to get out, to
find something bigger. That was very much where I was at, emotionally,
when I started writing. But funnily enough, as the process went on—and especially while shooting—I
found myself understanding the parents more and more and relating to them.
Their quiet sacrifices, the way they bottle things up… it really hit me. I
guess as I matured, so did my empathy. So now, I’d say I identify with all
of them at different moments. That’s part of what makes this story so
human.
A few
words about your directorial approach to your story at hand?
From the beginning, I knew I wanted the seasons to structure the film—not
just as act breaks, but as emotional and visual shifts that mirrored the
family’s journey. There’s a circularity to life, and I wanted the film to
reflect that.
In the first autumn, we used long takes with a steadicam—each scene
unfolding in a single shot so the whole family shared the same frame. It
gave this fluid, natural rhythm that matched their togetherness and their
chemistry. But as the seasons changed, we started separating them in the
frame, both physically and emotionally. We went handheld and at times, the
framing even hinted at westerns, evoking subtle confrontations. As things
unravel, the camera gets more and more distant from the family. And then
in the end, we go back into a oner for the final scene, bringing us back
to the energy of the beginning. Giving that sense of circularity.
We also worked heavily with the cast, even before the shoot. However,
our rehearsal time was focused not on the scenes from the script but
on exploring the characters deeper. The cast wrote character diaries,
made playlists, and we’d “interview” them as their characters. That
uncovered details we ended up weaving into the script.
This fluidity also worked with the changing seasons. Time was a big part
of the film and so we actually shot the film over the course of a full
year, one season after another. This gave us the luxury to adapt—to let
the seasons and the actors’ discoveries shape the film in real time.
Do talk about Autumn's
cast, and why exactly these people? Casting
Autumn was a unique challenge because we were shooting over the course of a full
year. We needed actors who weren’t just talented but genuinely
committed—people who believed in the story enough to stick with it, even
if offers from bigger movies came their way.
Beatriz Frazão was the first piece of the puzzle. I’d worked with her on My Mum’s Letters
and always had her in mind for Belinha while writing the script. She has
this natural presence and emotional depth that’s rare, especially in
actresses her age.
But finding Otávio, her father in the film, was much trickier. The role
needed a really delicate balance—someone who could be both funny and
deeply moving. A person that the audience had to fall in love with even
while he’s saying some pretty outrageous lines. And for the longest time,
we just couldn’t find him.
Then one day, while chatting with Beatriz’s real-life father, something
clicked. He had the exact warmth and charisma we were looking for. But he
wasn’t a professional actor—he’d never been a lead. So we came up with a
secret plan: I wrote a test scene and had Beatriz record a self-tape (as
if she hadn’t been cast already) with her dad reading opposite her. He
didn’t even realize it was an audition. But after watching it (and later
doing chemistry reads with the remaining cast), we were convinced—he was Otávio.
You also have to
talk about Autumn's main
location, and what was it like filming there? And how did you find it
even? We filmed Autumn
in Baião, a beautiful region in the Portuguese countryside. From the
beginning, we knew we wanted to shoot somewhere along the Douro River—not
just for the stunning landscapes, but also because of the train line that
winds through it, which had a sort of timeless, nostalgic feel that fit
the story perfectly.
So we quite literally knocked on the doors of every local council in the
area. Baião stood out immediately—not just because it’s incredibly
picturesque, but because the municipality was incredibly supportive from
the get-go. They seemed to be ready for a production of this scale.
Filming there was special. Not only was the council amazing at
supporting the production, but also locals opened their
doors—literally—for us to shoot inside their homes. That level of
openness and generosity added something intangible to the film. The
connection we built with the community gave the story a layer of
authenticity that we could never have faked.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and
the on-set atmosphere?
By the end of the shoot, Baião honestly felt like a second home. Since we
filmed four times over the course of a year, every time we returned, it
was like we had never left. There was something really special about being
in a place that’s a bit remote, away from the usual distractions. It
created this bubble where the cast and crew could really connect and
focus.
One of the things we were most intentional about was the cast dynamic. We
wanted the actors playing the family to actually feel
like a family. So we had them live together in the same house during the
shoot. They cooked breakfast together, rehearsed together, lived side by
side—and that chemistry shows on screen. You can’t fake that kind of
closeness. It brought a layer of intimacy and spontaneity that really
shaped the energy of the whole film.
Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of Autumn?
We’ve been lucky to share Autumn
with audiences all over the world—from the US to Vietnam—and the
response has been incredibly heartwarming. What’s been most surprising and
moving is how universal the story feels. Even though the script is rooted
in something very personal and specific, people from completely different
cultures come up to us after screenings and say, “That’s exactly how I
feel.” It just proves how shared our experiences really are.
Of course, winning awards and receiving praise feels amazing—it’s a
kind of validation for all the love, time, and work we poured into the
film. But honestly, the most rewarding thing is when someone sees the
film and then tells us “I’m gonna call my family tonight." Any
future projects you'd like to share? Yes! We’re currently developing two new features we’re really excited
about. One is A Night in Porto,
which is a sort of Before Sunset
for our generation—a romantic drama exploring love, identity, and the
weight of missed chances. The other is Millennials,
a more comedic take on something very real: the housing crisis in London.
Both projects are very close to our hearts and, in very different ways,
continue our interest in character-driven stories that reflect what it's
like to come of age in a world that keeps shifting beneath your feet. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal education on
the subject? I’ve wanted to make movies for as long as I can remember—there was never
really a plan B. I’m not entirely sure why it started, but I’ve always
felt that film is such a powerful way to shine a light on overlooked
topics, themes, and communities. It allows us to explore complex emotions
and ideas in a way that really connects with people. I’ve been studying
the craft ever since I was a teenager and eventually went on to complete a
Master’s degree at the London Film School, graduating in 2020. That
experience solidified my determination to make films that not only
entertain but hopefully leave a lasting impact. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Autumn?
Prior to Autumn, I had
done a few shorts and a TV series. How
would you describe yourself as a director? I’m a director who’s drawn to stories that carry a sense of hope. There’s
already so much heaviness in the world—just turn on the news or scroll
through your feed—and I think cinema can offer something different. I’m
not interested in ignoring pain or struggle, but I want my films to leave
people with the feeling that change is possible, that things can get
better. We need more of that, especially now. Filmmakers
who inspire you?
A lot of filmmakers inspire me, but Richard Linklater is probably the one
I emulate the most. But I’m also heavily inspired by Sidney Lumet, Martin
McDonagh, Paul Thomas Anderson and surprisingly Quentin Tarantino. Your favourite movies?
Impossible choice to make, but my Top 5 could be King of Comedy,
Licorice Pizza, Babylon, Dazed
and Confused and Pulp Fiction. But it changes
every week. Maybe I should have put Singing in the Rain
there… or The Apartment...
Ahh. I knew I couldn’t make this choice. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? Hard to deplore films. Only my old ones…
Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?
https://autumn-movie.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tony.director/
https://www.instagram.com/autumn.movie
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Well, here’s a little behind-the-scenes story that really speaks to the
dedication of our cast: In the middle of the one-year shoot, when we still
had two seasons left to film, Beatriz Frazão was cast as Anne Frank in a
stage production of The Diary of Anne Frank.
It could’ve completely derailed our plans to finish the film. But she was
so committed to this project that she made a great sacrifice: she’d shoot
with us all day, then travel four hours to Lisbon to do a two-hour
performance of a very intense play, and then travel another four hours back just to sleep and do
it all over again the next day. Honestly, it was wild. But it shows just
how much she believed in this film. That kind of passion is what carried Autumn
to the finish line. Thanks for the interview!
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