Lusitanian Illusion

Synopsis

Images and sounds expose the duality of Portugal during the days of WW2: a peaceful, god-loving, rural country, providing an escape route for over one hundred thousand European refugees to the Americas; and a political and cultural elite that disguised their Nazi inclinations just enough to play its neutral role in international politics.

Cast

António de Oliveira Salazar

Self (archive footage)

Américo Tomás

Self - President of the Republic (archive footage)

Hanna Schygulla

Erika Mann (voice)

Rüdiger Vogler

Alfred Döblin (voice)