Heart Keeper

SYNOPSIS

In the heart of the Alentejo countryside, Mariana and José Diogo are two children whose worlds could not be more different: she is the fruit of a loving relationship; he, an orphan. She has her family as a safe harbor to run to when she gets hurt; he can only run to her. They cross paths by the inevitable will of destiny: he is constantly escaping from the orphanage that borders her grandmother’s estate. No matter how much the rules try to keep them apart, the two children orbit around each other with a force that no one can explain or stop. They complete one another. José Diogo has never known a love like this, so unconditional. Mariana makes him laugh, she is affectionate with him, they seem to speak a language only they understand, and often they are certain they can guess each other’s thoughts.

Whatever substance souls are made of, Mariana’s and José Diogo’s are the same.

The days they spend together fly by, while the hours apart drag endlessly. They run through the olive fields of Vale do Rio, get scared at the Forte da Graça in Elvas, and imagine the past within the Castle walls. The land that gives itself to those who love it becomes the stage for a secret childhood love that will mark both of their lives forever. Benedita, Mariana’s grandmother and the family matriarch, is the first to notice the connection between the two. She surrounds them with affection and food. Around Mariana and José Diogo there is a constant scent of love and recipes whose sole purpose is to color the children’s days, as they bask in an affection flavored with Alentejo tradition.

AVAILABLE AS: Readymade and Format