À Pala de Walsh Sessions at Cinema Fernando Lopes
From February to July, À Pala de Walsh film sessions take place at Cinema Fernando Lopes
From February onwards and every month, the Cinema Fernando Lopes, at Lusófona University – Lisbon University Centre, hosts À Pala de Walsh in special commented sessions. These sessions are curated by critics from the website, and will feature a set of invited guests who stand out in the current cultural landscape.
At the beginning of the new year, Cinema Fernando Lopes, known for its eclectic programming and its desire to embrace new young audiences, joins À Pala de Walsh, a Portuguese film criticism website — “the most important website in Portugal (…) bringing together young critics from across the country.” (Cahiers du cinéma, December 2015) — which, after 14 years of work, remains committed to its collaborative mission, made up of a multiplicity of cinephile voices that have been complementing critical thinking through cinema. From this vitality emerge hybrid exercises that continue to reinforce the importance of cinema as a ritual that brings us closer together.
The collaboration, which in its initial phase will run from February to July 2026, is driven by the passage of time (the website recently welcomed two new members to its editorial team) and by a desire to celebrate community by bringing its audiences closer to criticism as an act of remaking cinema. All of this unfolds under the burning gaze of the survivor Mamie Stover (Jane Russell) in Woman Rebel (1956), by Raoul Walsh, a strong female figure in cinema, who will be honoured as the face of the sessions.
Beginning with the cinema of tenderness of Joachim Trier, with Sentimental Value (2025), the À Pala de Walsh sessions will include both the premieres of films by Paula Tomás Marques and Sylvain Chomet, as well as revisiting films by Werner Herzog, Terry Zwigoff and Nancy Savoca — mirrors of the pluralisation that cemented the growth of the website and which will now enter the Cinema Fernando Lopes auditorium: “all cinema is worth it” (O Cinema Não Morreu, 2017).
The À Pala de Walsh sessions at Cinema Fernando Lopes are supported by Antena 3 and the Agenda Cultural de Lisboa.
PROGRAMME
Saturday, 7 February | 9:00 pm
- Sentimental Value (2025) by Joachim Trier
Saturday, 21 March | 9:00 pm
- Beyond the Blue (2005) by Werner Herzog
Saturday, 18 April | 9:00 pm
- Dogfight (1991) by Nancy Savoca
Friday, 15 May | 9:30 pm
- Ghost World (2001) by Terry Zwigoff
Saturday, 20 June | 9:00 pm (scheduled premiere date, subject to change)
- Twice João Liberada (2025) by Paula Tomás Marques
Saturday, 25 July | 9:00 pm
- Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol (2025) by Sylvain Chomet
