The Movement of Things (1985, Manuela Serra)

One of the most remarkable cinematic rediscoveries of recent years, this long-unseen documentary — stunningly restored from the original 16mm materials—is the only film to date by Portuguese director Manuela Serra. With an extraordinary feeling for gesture, the passage of time, and the profundity of silence, Serra captures the everyday routines of three families living in Lanheses, a small village in the north of Portugal. Their rituals of work, leisure, and worship offer a glimpse of a fast-disappearing past, while the presence of one young woman, Isabel, seems to point the way toward the future.