Certain central concerns and obsessions run throughout André Gil Mata’s oeuvre, notwithstanding the diversity of genres and languages. His cinematographic journey addresses universal, existential and reflexive issues — such as life and death, childhood and old age, representation and memory and the notion of home as a core stronghold. In this context, cinema is viewed as a redemptive act and a way of preserving hope.

In his work, usually dark and melancholic, the duration of each shot, each film and each life are mixed and extended, as a form of “sculpting time” that affirms him as a unique director in the Portuguese context. Gil Mata’s cinema, despite being filled with stories of loneliness and loss, manages to reveal, for brief moments, some light in the darkness.

Five short films and three feature films comprise the filmmaker’s body of work, presented in its entirety at Batalha, including the national premiere of Pátio do Carrasco (2023). This programme also presents a choice of the director — the Yugoslavian film Tri, by Aleksandar Petrović, nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1967. In the context of this programme, Batalha launches the first publication dedicated to the work and film practice of André Gil Mata.