With the aim of exploring, appreciating and promoting Portuguese film heritage, Batalha commissions an annual programme entirely dedicated to Portugal’s cinema and its history. This broad programme organised thematically, is composed of foundational works that help us to revisit and recontextualise the fabric of our cinema.
This new programme, put together by a panel of guest curators, proposes a selection of films that zoom in on the diverse territories and transgressions of Portuguese cinema at different times. The first chapter, Subsoil, focusses on fields that have traditionally been absent from Portuguese film — fantasy, horror and supernatural — in which various filmmakers seek to use these genre codes to explore themes fundamental for understanding Portuguese communities, social dynamics and the national psyche.

Curated by Carlos Natálio (professor and film critic), Joana Gusmão (producer and organizer) and Luísa Sequeira (film maker and organizer)

Programme developed with the support of the Cinemateca Portuguesa — Museu do Cinema