Alberto Pescador was born amidst the sound of the waves and the strenuous effort of hauling fishing nets across the sand. Throughout his life, the sea has been his livelihood, his school, and his home. Today, however, he witnesses the slow disappearance of arte xávega, a centuries-old fishing tradition that has shaped the identity of Portuguese coastal communities for generations.
Faced with the shortage of men to form the fishing crews, the lack of institutional support, and the inevitable passage of time, Alberto sees not only a fishing practice fading away, but also a human and cultural heritage built by successive generations. As the nets grow lighter in hands and heavier in memory, he remains one of the last witnesses to a way of life on the verge of extinction. Blowing into an ancient conch shell, Alberto summons memories that seem to rise from the depths of the sea. The voices of departed companions, stories of hard work and camaraderie, fishing rituals, and moments that marked a lifetime return in a journey that moves between present reality and remembrance. Each memory reveals not only the path of one man, but also the collective history of a community that found its reason for being in the sea. Between the harshness of contemporary reality and the timeless beauty of the maritime landscape, MARALBERTO is an intimate portrait of identity, resilience, and legacy. A poetic testimony to what remains when everything else seems to disappear, and a reflection on the urgency of preserving memory before silence finally takes the place of the voices that echoed along the shore for centuries.