TV & Film
I love learning about Portuguese culture. The celebrations, the history, the artists, the people. I also enjoy hearing about other people’s perspectives on life here.
There’s plenty of great portuguese content to consume and enjoy, if you know where to look. To help you discover more, I have put together a list of Portuguese content (mostly in English) for you to immerse yourself in.
TV - Free to air
If you have free to air TV with your internet/phone provider like I do with Vodaphone, you’re sitting on a goldmine of portuguese content (in Portuguese). You’ve got dramatic telenovelas, the morning type shows and local historical documentaries. Mostly though, I have two main things I watch:
24Kitchen!
The local cooking shows on channel 24Kitchen! are my go-to. I’m always seeing new portuguese dishes, and the instructions they use while demonstrating are useful portuguese. Henrique Sa Pessoa is my favourite, I call him my Portuguese uncle cause I feel I watched so much of him, but he’s a well respected michelin star chef.
O Preco Certo (The Price Is Right)
My fave show is on channel RTP1. It’s just like the one we’re already familiar with from home, but a little more bonkers. The host, Fernando Mendes, is hilarious, the contestants shower him with random gifts, the prizes are pretty pathetic and the whole thing is a bit unhinged.
Netflix
There isn’t a whole lot, which I suspect has a bit to do with production budgets required vs audience numbers. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future.
Rabo do Peixe
Based on a true story, set in Acores, it follows the life of four young friends whose lives change forever with the arrival of a ton of cocaine washing up onto the island.
In Portuguese with English Subtitles available.
I also recommend this article in The Guardian, it’s wild!
Glória
Set in the late 60’s, a small town in Portugal becomes engulfed in a web of political intrigue when a young engineer is recruited as a KGB spy while also being in the pockets of the CIA.
In Portuguese with English Subtitles available.
Por do Sol
At first it looks like another cheesy telenovela but it’s actually a comedy that takes the micky out of the over-the-top storylines and dramatics in telenovelas. It was also on free to air and was so popular they even made a movie.
In Portuguese only with no English subtitles.
YouTube
There are quite a few YouTube content creators based in Portugal nowadays, but please be aware that many are trying to get clicks (& money) by selling you a false paradise. I find some creators to be intentionally misleading by refusing to talk about the less-positive realities and falsely claiming it’s dirt cheap to live here. (As soon as you see the acronym F.I.R.E, run.)
Honeymoon Always
Based in Lisbon, this lovely couple don’t make Portugal focused content anymore, but if you go to their channel’s playlists, you’ll find useful videos from when they moved here, including surprises and challenges they faced.
(Full disclosure - they are my real-life besties now. But only because I had watched so much of their content I recognised them in the street and accosted them into being my friends on the spot!) Link
Dave in Portugal.
A heavily American-based perspective, that I feel is more nuanced and balanced than most. He has videos about moving to Portugal, but also travel and culture. Link
People Of Lisbon
One person at a time is their motto, and they do it well. It’s an interview format, done very casually (but with high level production value), mostly with a creative professional or someone contributing to the culture here in some way (both local and not), where they talk about their perspectives on life in our city. Always interesting and each video is only about 7 minutes long.
