“Property without possession is like a treasure chest without the key to open ita fruit tree without the ladder to catch the fruitRudolf von JheringPossession is the power that manifests itself when someone acts over something in order to exercise an actual right (corpus) and does it with the intention of acting as having an entitlement to that right (animus). Behind the actions of the possessor might not be any right that legitimizes or justifies those actions, in this case, possession is just a de facto situation, to which the Law recognizes several effects that might consist in its conversion into a permanent lawful situation, through usucapio (converts possession into the legal title to property). Usucapio means to acquire ownership through long use or possession, it is a right that a citizen gains related to real estate or another good, when it is used for a certain amount of time. Possession can be inherited, alienated and registered and it is the power that manifests itself when someone acts in a manner corresponding to the exercise of ownership. Ownership is the actual maximum right through which someone is granted the power to exclusively benefit from something. The right to property does not cease when the good is not used but it ceases if someone else exercises that use.*The film ‘Propriedade’ came out of a workshop carried out with members of the Roma community, Baralha, whose name derives from the street where it established itself 10 years ago. During 7 days, we worked with the legal concepts explained above and the participants’ actual experience of use and possession of goods and real estate as told, documented and acted by members of that community.‘Propriedade’ is a document, a manual and a device whose structure, made out of a series of still shots of real locations – where improvised conversations and staged meetings take place – is interrupted by intertitles on which civil rights are based.Filipa César* Based on Portuguese law, 2008