With the aim of exploring, appreciating and promoting portuguese film heritage, Batalha commissions an annual programme entirely dedicated to its cinema and its history. The selection of films is broad but incisive, composed of both established and lesser known filmmakers, ever fundamental for a complete consideration of Portuguese cinema.
The first edition of Seleção Nacional will focus on political, aesthetic and social developments in Portuguese cinema. Presented in four constellations, the selection relocates film in dialogue around specific themes, opening a new way of looking at these works, the times they were made in, and their artistic impact.
In March and April, we'll continue to present Constellation #4: Lagutrop. Portuguese cinema, in its reduced production capacity, has never had a significant science fiction or fantastic cinema. This doesn't mean that dystopian themes haven't crossed several moments in our filmography. The aim of this constellation is to show some of these examples, lesser-known or even overlooked works in which computer screens from the early days of computing intersect with the wild ruins of abandoned avant-garde architecture, and themes that range from the nuclear threat, the impossibility of motherhood or the eschatologies of the end of the world.