"Despite the difficulties and testimonies of less good times, what impressed me the most was the union of people, the idea that we need to be together to overcome the pandemic and obey the rules, otherwise the virus will proliferate," he told the Lusa Agency.
Author of several books on nutrition and well-being and "cultural agent," Henrique Sungo produced the documentary "The Unexpected Virus" in 2020, after the first confinement in the UK in the spring of 2020, collecting testimonies from members of the Lusophone community in the British capital.
The impact of mental health and physical fitness, the effect on business and the initiatives created to support people in need were some of the perspectives addressed in interviews with a social worker, a soccer coach, a student, an entrepreneur, a family with children, several volunteers from charitable organizations and public service employees.
Most of the interviewees are Portuguese-speaking, but Sungo says he looked for a diversity of interlocutors to show the repercussion of the pandemic in the British capital and in the United Kingdom, one of the countries with the highest number of deaths worldwide.
The 17-minute documentary was awarded the Jury Prize for Short Documentary at the London ArtHouse Film Festival 2020 in January, a festival that aims to "encourage new producers and emerging film directors from around the world.
Born in Huambo, Henrique Sungo is the author of several children's books on nutrition and Angolan culture and has been living in the United Kingdom for about a decade, where he assumes himself as a "cultural agent".
Two years ago he attended the award ceremony of the same festival and says he was "curious and inspired" to develop works in video.
"I'm doing more training to continue making documentaries," he said.
