In 1967, a week-long event took place at Batalha Cinema with the title Encounters in New Portuguese Cinema Week (Semana de Estudos sobre o Novo Cinema Português). Organised by Cineclube do Porto with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Porto City Council, this event was pivotal in defining subsequent funding policies for film production in Portugal. The conference brought together contributors from all over the country: young artists just starting out; established directors; film club members; writers; journalists; and other figures from the cultural scene in Portugal.

More than half a century after this decisive moment in the history of Portuguese film, the same organisers propose a new set of encounters in Portuguese Cinema, to take place at the renovated Batalha Film Centre.

This industry event will be centred around four themes, each developed by a sub-commissioner responsible first for coordinating an investigation and consultation regarding the theme, and then for conducting public debates and workshops during the encounters themselves. The themes will be as follows: Production; Distribution and Exhibition; Criticism; and Education. The reflections emerging from these New Encounters will be summarised in a publication, along with the conclusions drawn by those involved in the process of preparing and executing the event.

The debates and ideas proposed by this cycle, which is national in scale and concerned with all challenges facing the sector, aims to take in the diversity of cinematic approaches and languages in the national context, as well as identify good practices and opportunities for the sector within today’s socioeconomic and cultural landscape. During the encounters, the potential of new models for producing, funding, developing and distributing films will be explored.

The New Encounters in Portuguese Cinema (Novos Encontros do Cinema Português) will create a space for frank, independent debate, inviting people from all areas of cinema and bringing them together again in Porto, at Batalha.

Full programme announced in May