Portuguese cinema is coming to New York

From June 24th-30th, New York will host “New Tales From Portuguese Cinema”, a festival of Portuguese cinema organized by FLAD in partnership with Anthology Film Archives, programmed by Francisco Valente.

“Batrachian’s Ballad”, by Leonor Teles, “Amor, Avenidas Novas”, by Duarte Coimbra, or “The Lamb of God”, by David Pinheiro Vicente, are just 3 of the 20 films that are part of this festival of Portuguese cinema. Premiering on June 24, “New Tales From Portuguese Cinema” will show the perspectives of a new generation of filmmakers, whose films present artistic, social, and political reflections that mark the 21st century. Get to know the program here.

This festival, organized by FLAD, will be hosted by the Anthology Film Archives in New York, a place of worship for independent and experimental cinema. In the words of Rita Faden, President of FLAD:

“The Anthology Film Archives has been a space of reference for over 50 years. It seemed ideal to us to promote Portuguese cinema in the United States, reinforcing its uniqueness and quality. We believe there is room for Portuguese cinema in the United States, and we want to contribute to its internationalization.”

Francisco Valente, guest programmer, explains that the chosen filmmakers are distinguished “for their unbreakable commitment to using the screen as a means to express their individual freedom, to reflect their racial and gender identities, and to develop narratives experiments that comment on and expand our reality – in Portugal, the U.S., or that beautiful, imaginary country called cinema.”

This connection between Portugal and the USA is also expressed through “Tracing Utopia”, a documentary based on the testimonies of queer teenagers from Queens, directed by Catarina de Sousa and Nick Tyson, who will be in New York to present their joint production, which will end this festival.