ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the cultural memory of Portugal’s involvement in the Second World War through the prism of contemporary documentary films. It focuses on three films released between 1992 and 2017: O Cônsul Injustiçado (Teresa Olga and Diana Andringa, 1992), Fantasia Lusitana (João Canijo, 2010) and Rosas de Ermera (Luís Filipe Rocha, 2017). Each one of them addresses different facets of Portugal’s involvement in the war (in various geographical settings, in Europe and South-East Asia), inviting the viewer to question the narrative nurtured by Salazar’s regime concerning its equidistant stance towards the belligerents, as well as its mythical vision of the integrity of the overseas empire.
