PORTO PREMIERE
June 13 | 9:00 PM
Cinema Passos Manuel, Porto

Free admission (subject to seating availability)

With the presence of the directors (Ana Sofia Pereira and Vanessa Rodrigues) and a discussion after the screening.

Feminisms: The Freedom to Be

Documentary | Duration: 01:17:34

Set against the backdrop of the preparations for and celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Feminisms: The Freedom to Be takes us on a journey through the past and present of feminist movements in Portugal.

Featuring 28 voices from different generations, backgrounds, and life experiences, the film brings personal testimonies into dialogue with images from the Feminist Strike across various cities, archival materials, photographs, and activist media. Individuals from diverse walks of life – from researchers to activists, from informal collectives to organized associations, both anonymous people and public figures – who claim feminisms through multiple gender identities, share their experiences of struggle, discrimination, and feminist resistance that help shape a plural and intersectional narrative of Portuguese feminisms. 

Throughout this journey into feminist movements across the country, the documentary also leads us behind the scenes of March 8: from the collective act of hand-painting protest signs, where we witness the growing enthusiasm that precedes the occupation of public space, to the vibrant marches where voices rise and echo through the streets, carrying chants and demands for change. We walk alongside – and allow ourselves to be carried by – a human landscape that moves symbolically and collectively, casting light on the many struggles and rights yet to be fulfilled.

Rather than presenting a singular account of feminisms, this documentary – the result of empirical and reflective work carried out as part of the research project FEMglocal – Glocal Feminist Movements: Interactions and Contradictions – opens space for diverse voices and lived experiences, fostering the emergence of plural narratives that reclaim stories long forgotten, silenced, or nearly lost. By materializing a collective memory that bridges the present and the possibilities of the future, Feminisms: The Freedom to Be asserts itself as an act of listening, archiving, and action.