Once a month starting in March, Batalha Centro de Cinema will host Filmaporto Screenings dedicated to filmmakers based in Porto and projects filmed in the city. The aim is to provide a space and technical facilities for industry screenings — open to the public — of films that have not yet been presented in the city. Filmaporto Screenings will take place on the final Thursday of each month, at 7.15pm.
The first screening takes place on 30 March with As sombras e os seus nomes (2021), by visual artist João Pedro Amorim. The film presents a reading of a set of texts by Walter Benjamin reflecting on the relationship between images, names and knowledge.
The screening on 27 April consists of three short films by Francisco Noronha — O Despiste (2021), a story of interrogations, pain and changes; Triunfo de Helmut (2022), an essay film concerning the ways in which Nazi psyche and praxis have been covered up in democratic society; and Reconstrução (2022), a genealogy of Portuguese cinema told using an unusual locus: hills, which here represent nature’s final refuge for lovers on the margins of the city.
Then, the screening on 25 May includes two short films by LoTA Gandra: O Meu Primeiro Apocalipse (2021), a fusion of mockumentary, clip show and disaster film that reflects on fears and fantasies, with a dose of humour; and O Sonho da Máquina (2022), featuring a group of young people from Porto who took part in a theatre and cinema project developed by Teatro de Ferro.
Filmaporto Screenings are free to attend, on presentation of a ticket collected on the day of the session. There is a limit of two tickets per person.
Works shown in these screenings are selected by Filmaporto via an Open Call operating until 27 September. The call is open to shorts and feature films produced by filmmakers who reside in Porto, or were filmed in the city in the past two years. The films must not have been previously shown in public screenings in Porto, nor should they have a planned commercial release at the time of submission. Proposals should be submitted by email in line with the Open Call guidelines.
