The Estufa Fria served as the backdrop on the final day of filming for “Santo António, o casamenteiro de Lisboa,” gathering much of the cast for two brief scenes and an emotional farewell.
Produced by Bla Bla Media and slated for a summer 2026 cinema release, the film stars Rita Blanco and Joaquim Monchique as the guardians of a Lisbon tradition—the Santo António weddings—which faces the threat of falling into the hands of a multinational corporation.
In addition to these two actors—whose collaboration marks their first—the cast includes Lídia Franco, Rui Mendes, Maria Rueff, João Catarré, Maria João Bastos, Ana Bola, Inês Aires Pereira, Jacqueline Corado, Paco León, Joaquim de Almeida, Albano Jerónimo, and Isabel Abreu.
Ruben Alves previously collaborated with some of the actors in this film in “A Gaiola Dourada” (2013), a box office hit in Portugal about a Portuguese family emigrating to Paris, reminiscent of the director’s own story.
In an interview, Ruben Alves, who was born and raised in Paris as the child of Portuguese emigrants, shared that it was due to the new film that he discovered the annual tradition of Santo António weddings.
“I discovered a very interesting, funny world with many real, quirky stories that I incorporated into the film,” stated the director and co-writer, alongside Spanish writer Fer Pérez.
Leveraging this tradition, Ruben Alves aimed to speak “of an identity, of a people, of the inhabitants of Lisbon, which resonates everywhere,” in the context of globalization and mass tourism.
“I walk around and don’t even know where I am, it could be Paris or Milan, and we must be careful because an identity that escapes… We can be modern, but in a particular way so that our tradition doesn’t vanish,” he noted.
Actor Joaquim Monchique mentioned that the film “is a homage by Ruben, in a very romantic, funny comedy with a delightful vision of Lisbon.”
“Santo António, o casamenteiro de Lisboa” marks Bla Bla Media’s first fiction feature film and will not only premiere in theaters but also arrive on streaming platforms, becoming “the first Portuguese film to be released on Disney+”.
Producer Filipe Araújo revealed that Disney+ was “the cornerstone” that propelled this project forward, describing it as “an adventure on another scale,” involving a team of over a hundred people at an independent producer primarily focused on documentaries and animated films.
The feature film received financial backing from the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual, Creative Europe, the Tourism and Cinema Support Fund, Lisbon Tourism, and the Lisbon City Council. Cinema distribution in 2026 will be handled by NOS Audiovisuais.
