The Arte Institute is bringing the NY Portuguese Short Film Festival (NYPSFF) to Southeastern Massachusetts, with free screenings on November 10 at Bristol Community College’s Fall River Campus.
Presented in partnership with LusoCentro, the event highlights some of the most innovative works by emerging Portuguese filmmakers, connecting Portugal’s contemporary cinema to one of the largest Portuguese-American communities in the United States.
This year’s selection includes nine short films—fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental works—exploring themes ranging from migration and identity to memory, grief, and social change. The screenings will run from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Room 106 of BCC’s D Building, located at 777 Elsbree Street. All films will be shown with English subtitles, and no registration is required.
Curated by a panel of industry professionals, the program features directors whose work spans Portugal, the Azores, the United States, and broader Lusophone communities.
Among the highlights is First Date, filmed on Pico Island, a story that playfully reflects contemporary Azorean identity and diaspora dynamics. Other films address issues of war, displacement, environmental scarcity, urban transformation, and personal resilience, offering a broad view of the concerns shaping Portugal’s young creators.
For many viewers in Fall River, New Bedford, and Providence, the festival offers a rare opportunity to see Portugal represented through the lens of its newest creative talent.
In New England, the festival has become a welcome annual event, previously hosted in Fall River, New Bedford, and Providence. This year’s edition continues that tradition, strengthening ties between Portugal’s creative sector and the diaspora that helped carry Portuguese culture across the Atlantic.
Founded in 2011, the Arte Institute has become one of the leading promoters of contemporary Portuguese art abroad, with a strong presence in Portuguese-American hubs across New York and New England. The NY Portuguese Short Film Festival, one of its signature initiatives, premiered simultaneously in New York and Lisbon and has since expanded globally, traveling to more than two dozen countries, including Brazil, Canada, Angola, Mozambique, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
For more information, contact LusoCentro Director Carlos Almeida at carlos.almeida@bristolcc.edu or by calling 401-919-4293.
Program
“First Date” (“Primeiro Encontro”) – Luís Filipe Borges
Romantic dramedy filmed in Pico about a man who pretends to be Azorean to impress a woman he met online.
“Anchor” (“Ançora”) – Helder Faria
Hybrid documentary-fiction following parallel stories of two mothers facing forced separation: a Ukrainian refugee in Lisbon and a grieving Portuguese mother.
“The Draw” (“O Sorteio”) – Lourenço Barjona & Lucas Torre
A dystopian film set in a future where a monthly lottery selects 15 million people to die due to scarce resources.
“Before the Moonrise” (“Antes do Nascer da Lua”) – Mário Patrocínio
Post-apocalyptic tale about three generations of women fighting to survive in a world without water.
“T-Zero” – Vicente Niró
Animated critique of tourism and gentrification in a once-traditional Portuguese city transformed by modernization.
“With Each Passing Day” (“A Cada Dia Que Passa”) – Emanuel Nevado
Stop-motion story of D. Piedade, an elderly mouse seeking to escape a life of isolation and routine.
“Waltz on the Moon” (“Valsas na Lua”) – Francisco de Assis
A poetic, introspective drama about a young man navigating grief, memory, and insomnia after his father’s death.
“The Immovable Structure” (“A Estrutura Imóvel”) – Juliana Julieta
Experimental Super-8 short filmed during the 2022 anti-TERF protest in New York, exploring resistance within rigid systems.
“Growing Through It” (“Crescer à Força”) – Artur Correia, Felipe Kenji & Sofia Almeida
Animated short in which three friends reflect on trauma, growth, and emotional maturity.
PAJ/Staff
