From Nowhere: A Portrait of Valter Hugo Mãe

From Nowhere: A Portrait of Valter Hugo Mãe (2025) is a documentary film directed by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes.

Filmed over seven years, the documentary follows Valter Hugo Mãe as he writes his novel “A Desumanização”, across journeys through Iceland, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, and Macau. A visual meditation on solitude, loss, and belonging, featuring appearances by cartoonist Laerte Coutinho and Icelandic composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, mentor of bands such as Sigur Rós and Björk. The film is part of the project “The Meaning of Life”, which director Miguel Gonçalves Mendes has been developing for more than a decade: a series of nine features built as a kaleidoscope of contemporary figures, in which the filmmaker invites us to reflect on what makes us, as humans, unique beings.

Cast

Valter Hugo Mãe

Self

Laerte Coutinho

Self

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson

Self