To Faro (Mein Freund aus Faro)

Enjoyable drama about a young factory worker, Mel, who takes on the persona of a Portuguese man, Miguel, when she is mistaken for a boy by the beautiful Jenny. In order to avoid her family’s suspicions and to continue seeing Jenny, Mel crafts a careful web of deception as she produces a fake boyfriend (her colleague from Faro) at a family dinner and becomes enthusiastically lost in both her lies, learning Portuguese and constructing a whole new history for herself. Trouble, of course, follows when it turns out that not only has Jenny already got a boyfriend but that she is much younger than she claims. Mel’s journey from quiet tomboy in a family of men to the beginnings of an understanding of her sexuality and gender identity is dealt with in an understated and sweet way, making this an endearing account of a rather problematic relationship.
Nazmia Jamal