Cinema Does Not Live Only in the Centers

Cinalfama Fora do Eixo was born from the recognition of a structural inequality in access to cinema as a living cultural practice. In Portugal — as in much of Europe — independent, auteur and non-industrial cinema programming is largely concentrated in major urban centers, leaving vast territories outside the regular circuits of film exhibition, debate and collective encounter.

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This project does not start from the idea of “bringing culture” to peripheral territories, but from the recognition that cinema already exists in these places — in memories, local archives, schools, associations, informal film clubs and communities. What is often missing is not creation, but conditions for visibility, sharing and recognition.

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Cinalfama Fora do Eixo operates precisely within this gap.

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What Is Cinalfama Fora do Eixo?

Cinalfama Fora do Eixo is a traveling film program that brings cinema to contexts where cultural programming is scarce or irregular, creating screening moments accompanied by context, conversation and encounter. The project grows out of Cinalfama’s curatorial experience and the belief that cinema remains a powerful tool for gathering, reflection and collective memory.

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Each screening is developed in close collaboration with local entities — libraries, schools, cultural associations, parish councils or community spaces — respecting the audiences, rhythms and specificities of each territory.

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Curatorship — The Cinalfama Axes

The programming of Cinalfama Fora do Eixo is structured around curatorial axes that run through the entire Cinalfama universe, allowing for great flexibility without losing identity. These include:

• Cinema and the City — exploring the city, territory and processes of urban transformation;

• Ethnographic and Observational Cinema — focused on relationships with communities, territories and cultural practices;

• Essay Documentary and Personal Films — where cinema functions as thought, memory and subjective investigation, crossing intimate experience, history and critical reflection;

• Cinema, Sound and Music — where sound, music and listening play a central role;

• Animalfama — dedicated to animation as a free, poetic and non-industrial artistic practice.

Each session may focus on a single axis or combine several, depending on context and audience.

 

Who Is It For?

Cinalfama Fora do Eixo is addressed to:

• local entities interested in meaningful and flexible cultural programming;

• territories outside major urban centers;

• intergenerational and non-specialized audiences;

• communities that value cinema as a collective experience.

No prior knowledge or habitual consumption of auteur cinema is required.

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