A film about authoritarianism in its many forms, Lauro António's Morning Mist links the rigid paternalism of the Salazar dictatorship with the mind-control enforced by the Catholic Church. Set in the 1930s, it tells of a young boy, António, who is packed off to a seminary to be trained for the priesthood--the last financial resort for a poor country boy. Chafing under the oppressive regimentation of cruel, capricious priests, who allow him no friendships with the other boys and no private communication with his family, António devises his own brutal resolution. Village Voice critic J. Hoberman writes, “Lauro António's spare style seems influenced by those of Robert Bresson and Chantal Akerman: long takes present banal activities in real time, scenes are broken down into a few studied compositions, the same musical fragment--a Vivaldi requiem--is repeated throughout.... After a while, you realize that the director's neutral style masks a cold, implacable fury. Morning Mist is really about the violation of a child, and the film's seeming detachment is the buildup for the drastic measure its protagonist ultimately uses to effect his escape.” António is a film critic and writer who made several short films before Morning Mist, his first feature, which was featured at film festivals including Los Angeles' Filmex '81 and the Museum of Modern Art's New Directors series in 1982.