António da Cunha Telles' 1970 film occupies a prominent place in Cinema Novo, marked by experimentation and a strong documentary look. The producer turned director, constrained by meagre resources, ended up getting closer to the roots of auteur cinema like few others. But O Cerco is also made by Maria Cabral's photogenic approach, her imagistic leitmotiv, which brings cinema and advertising together. And it is in this often overlooked reading, of the (meta)advertising dimension of then film, that O Cerco features as the opening of this programme.