The history of cinema is full of popular films that have been loved through the generations, but there have also been many that were quickly forgotten. Some, decades after their release, may be chosen for restoration and gain a new life on the festival circuit. But they don’t always make it to the public cinema auditorium. With two screenings per month, Treasures from the Archive is a programme of (re)discovery of films recently restored by important laboratories, archives and cinema archives in the industry. Some of these works have already been recognised for their importance in the history of cinema, while others, from all over the world, for various reasons have yet to be seen by a general audience.

In all of them we encounter compelling perspectives and issues that justify another look — regardless of whether they were made 20 or 80 years ago.

In May, we present two complementary films that invite us to reflect on the needs and challenges facing the African diaspora at the end of the 1960s. In June we celebrate pride month with two screenings highlighting the urgency of reclaiming, building and conserving LGBTQIA+ memory: from the camp and subversive fiction of A Rainha Diaba to an essential documentary about the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, ending with The Watermelon Woman, a powerful documentary-fiction film telling the story of Black lesbians in the cinema.  We close this season in July with a treasure suited to warmer days, an Italian film bringing together two icons of 20th century cinema, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren, in an unpredictable and fun summer comedy.

Curated by Joana Canas Marques and Lídia Queirós.