Field Notes

A short documentary following one family farm through a single harvest, from first light to the last crate.

Client: Terra Farms Cooperative
Role: Director, cinematographer & editor
Location: Alentejo, Portugal
Runtime: 6:40
Kit: Blackmagic Pocket 6K · vintage Zeiss primes

Cupped hands hold a pile of freshly picked blueberries.

( Brief & approach )

Terra Farms is a cooperative of forty small growers. Instead of an advert, they wanted a film that showed what one season actually costs a family — in hours, in weather and in luck.

I lived with the Almeida family for the eleven days of their harvest, shooting alone with a small camera so I could stay out of the way. There are no interviews to camera; the story is told through their work and the conversations they had anyway.

The film launched the cooperative’s direct-to-customer box scheme and is now part of their onboarding for new member farms.