Paulo Rocha

To mark the 90th anniversary of Paulo Rocha’s birth, celebrated in December 2025, the Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema—will host, throughout 2026, a series of events honoring one of the most influential figures in Portuguese cinema, a native of Porto—including screenings of his films in theaters across the country and the preparation of a Blu-ray edition that brings together, for the first time, the restored versions of the filmmaker’s complete body of work. A central figure of the New Portuguese Cinema, Paulo Rocha built, over more than five decades, a unique filmography marked by a constant openness to the world and a profound artistic restlessness. As part of this tribute, Batalha presents two screenings featuring two films separated by decades but both deeply connected to Lisbon—a city that Paulo Rocha portrays through the lens of promise, disillusionment, and reinvention.

A programme developed in partnership with Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema