Blog: Film festivals

The Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival is an annual outdoor event located in the heart of Lisbon's historic neighborhood, Alfama. For a week, we occupy the street with independent films from around the world.

OPEN CALL

We welcome submissions from independent directors, screenwriters, and composers who want to see their work screened at the white walls of Alfama.

ABOUT CINALFAMA

Cinalfama Lisboa International Film Festival celebrates the rich cultural and historical tapestry of one of the city's most iconic areas, providing a unique platform for independent filmmakers worldwide.

We aim to promote cultural and artistic diversity through cinema, highlighting works that address relevant, innovative, and provocative themes. With a carefully curated selection of films, our goal is to offer the audience an engaging and diverse cinematic experience.

To believe in an independent film festival in the streets of one of Lisbon's historic neighborhoods inevitably absorbed by gentrification is to persist and pursue a community utopia where cinema plays a restorative role.
In this context, Cinalfama has been developing a pilot program to collect stories and orality from residents and spaces in the neighborhood, in an attempt to rescue the essence of this population.

Several of the directors who make up the Cinalfama team, such as Pedro Costa, Leonor Teles, and Pedro Cabeleira, are taking part in this pressing project, whose collections are being screened at the Cinalfama Lisboa International Film Festival.

Cinalfama holds a second Open Call for the Film Observatory - regular competitive sessions three times a year (January, April, and October) - with different categories.