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Generic overlap as a mode of (social) production in Portuguese silent non-fiction film: the case of a Covilhã industrial, pitoresca e seus arredores (1921)

Publication . Sampaio, Sofia

The article offers a contribution to the international debate on nonfiction film genres in the silent period by proposing a historically and socially informed analysis of ‘generic overlap’ in the Portuguese documentary A Covilhã Industrial, Pitoresca e Seus Arredores (1921) [Industrial and Picturesque Covilhã, and Its Outskirts]. Made by Artur Costa de Macedo (1894–1966) for Invicta Film, a short-lived but prolific production company based in the North of Portugal, the film is a composite of different genres, such as the travelogue, the scenic view, the actuality, the industrial process film, and the local film. While in keeping with well-established international film practices, this kind of generic overlap also reflects the specific set of constraints and opportunities that the filmmaker encountered (and, respectively, sought to overcome and take advantage of) when he took on this film commission. Local newspaper research, though selective and incomplete, was crucial for gaining a deeper knowledge of this film’s local and regional underpinnings. The article also discusses the film’s 2002 restoration in light of its generic overlap, considering how genre-bound and genre-blind decisions resulted in a ‘new version’ and a ‘new original’ that sought to address a new set of concerns and scale configuration. It concludes that filmic genre has played (and continues to play) an active role in creating and sustaining social goals and relations in both silent filmmaking and film restoration projects.

2024Journal article

Restricted access

Female landscapes: the presence of women in the photographs and images of the Portuguese colonial exhibitions

Publication . Matos, Patrícia Ferraz de

The aim of this article is to reflect on the presence of colonized women in photographs and other representations, such as drawings, posters, postcards, exhibition catalogues, newspapers and magazines, which were disseminated in the context of the Portuguese colonial expositions, and in exhibition spaces conceived by the Portuguese with a colonial component. Generally speaking, the exhibitions sought to put forward the progress, taking into account land, rail and sea transport, but also roads, communications, trade, industry, arts, architecture, culture, and the most recent advances in science and medicine. The exhibitions were also places where the logic of colonial models was staged, showing a clear relationship between colonial domination and gender representation. The research includes several materials produced throughout the 1930s (a fertile period regarding the Portuguese participation in this kind of international events) intended to publicize these exhibitions or serve as a complement to them. These materials may include art works or merely propagandistic works, or works that combine both components. The analysis will include materials associated with several exhibitions between 1931 and 1940, such as the International Colonial Exhibition of Paris (1931), the Lisbon Industrial Exhibition (1932), the Portuguese Colonial Exhibition in Porto (1934), the Exhibition of the Portuguese World in Lisbon (1940), and the Portugal of the Little Ones (Portugal dos Pequenitos) in Coimbra (1940). The contexts in which women appear and the way they are represented — as active beings (performing tasks), as contemplative beings (as in natural landscapes) or as objects of sexual desire, revealing the context of power (legislative, administrative, male and colonial) in which the images and the representations were produced — will be analyzed.

2024Journal article

Open access

Financiarización de la vivienda como acumulación territorial en la semiperiferia: un marco comparativo

Publication . Tulumello, Simone

Este artículo contribuye a conceptualizar la acumulación territorial centrándose en una dimensión específica, pero paradigmática: la financiarización de la vivienda en contextos semiperiféricos. Para ello esbozo los contornos principales de un marco comparativo y multiescalar sobre las distintas trayectorias regionales de la financiarización de la vivienda en Europa del Sur y América Latina, al tiempo que permanezco centrado en los caracteres específicos de la financiarización subordinada. Abordo una serie de dimensiones clave: las relaciones entre las formas de tenencia y las trayectorias de financiarización a largo plazo; la variada dinámica en la que ocurre la subordinación monetaria; el papel central, pero plural, del Estado; el rol recurrente de las instituciones internacionales; y los límites de las teorías centradas exclusivamente en las operaciones ‘formales’ de financiarización. En conclusión, abro la puerta a una reevaluación de las relaciones centro-periferia en la investigación sobre la financiarización de la vivienda.

2025Journal article

Open access

Portuguese cinema and its discontents: a view from the film archive

Publication . Sampaio, Sofia

The article revisits the main arguments and underlying premises of the protracted debate on ‘national art cinema’ that has shaped Portuguese film studies for many decades. Drawing on international scholarly work on national cinemas and on my own experience as a researcher in the National Archive of the Moving Images (ANIM) of the Portuguese Cinematheque (Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema), I argue for a definition of ‘Portuguese cinema’ that takes into account the vast collections of non-fiction films that have been excluded from this debate. My proposal entails a shift away from prescriptive to descriptive understandings of Portuguese cinema, thus recognising its diversity, in the past as well as in the present. I therefore endorse a conception of national cinema that takes heed of wider and deeper historical processes, international ‘constellations’ and other (often contested or unacknowledged) traditions and practices. The argument builds on the analysis of Adriano Ramos Pinto – Vinho do Porto (attributed title), a short non-fiction utility film made in the late 1930s that belongs to ANIM’s holdings.

2024Journal article

Restricted access

Empowering the people: the evolution and impact of Portugal’s citizens’ legislative initiatives in a comparative perspective

Publication . Serra-Silva, Sofia; Gaio e Silva, João

Citizens’ legislative initiatives (CLIs) are vital instruments of direct democracy that allow citizens to participate in decision-making and infuence the legislative agenda. Despite the growing interest globally, there has been limited scholarly attention on Portugal, which implemented this tool in 2003. This study conducts an in-depth case analysis of CLIs in Portugal, examining their legal evolution, institutional design within the European context, and their usage and success. An original dataset characterizes the initiatives, proponents, and subscribers to provide comprehensive insights. While efforts have been made to make CLIs more accessible in Portugal, the existing requirements and procedures remain moderately accessible, with high signature-to-population ratios and lengthy processing times. The study also fnds that most CLIs face rejection, expiration, or withdrawal. Successful CLIs, which result in legislation, often lead to laws that are signifcantly different from the original proposals. This discrepancy arises because parties substantially modify the original texts during the parliamentary discussion and citizens have little infuence over the fnal version of the law. This research highlights the challenges and limitations faced by CLIs emphasizing the need for reforms to enhance citizen infuence in the legislative process and the importance of balancing parliamentary control with genuine and meaningful citizen participation.

2024Journal article

Open access