The 2024 edition unfolded in the shadow of an anniversary: fifty years since the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974. It was our largest programme to date, twenty-three films that looked back at dictatorship, colonial war and the fragile work of building a democracy, while never losing sight of the present.
A cluster of works spoke directly to the date. 25 Abril - Uma Aventura para a Democracia, O Cravo da Liberdade, À Mesa da Unidade Popular and Prazer, camaradas! traced the revolution and its aftermath from archive, animation and reenactment. Around them, João Botelho's sweeping Peregrinação, which he came to present in person, and Carlos Conceição's Locarno-winning Nação Valente widened the lens to Portugal's longer, more troubled history abroad.
Animation held a special place this year. José Miguel Ribeiro came to present both his feature Nayola, which carries the trauma of the Angolan civil war across three generations, and his short Estilhaços, part of a run of shorts that pushed the form in bold directions.
Many more filmmakers travelled to introduce their films. Both Carlos Conceição, for Nação Valente, and José Filipe Costa, for his documentary Prazer, camaradas!, spoke with the audience after their screenings.
Luísa Sequeira brought O Que Podem As Palavras, together with her collaborator Sama, and Hugo dos Santos presented Mãos Invisíveis.
Maria Mire introduced Clandestina, and Miguel Dores his Alcindo.
Catarina Laranjeiro and Daniel Barroca came to present Fogo no Lodo, which they co-directed.
As always, the films were only part of the evening, the discussions, a glass of Port wine, and the sense of a community gathering around Portuguese cinema in Berlin carried the edition from one November night to the next.
