Cinalfama Film Observatory (9)

Festival start: 25 October 2025      Festival end: 25 October 2025

The CINALFAMA FILM OBSERVATORY, held in a historic neighborhood, emerges as a transformative cultural initiative that strengthens the community network. By showing independent films, the project not only widens access to alternative and innovative narratives but also stimulates cultural engagement among residents, fostering a sense of identity and belonging.

This regular event, which takes place at Museu do Fado Auditorium, becomes a meeting point where generations cross paths, sharing experiences and reflections that transcend mere film viewing. In addition, by being located in a neighborhood with a rich historical heritage, the observatory revitalizes the urban space, attracting visitors and enhancing the appreciation of the local heritage, generating a very positive cultural dynamic

The Cinalfama Film Observatory is a regular cinema competition in January, April, and October.

The winning films of each of the three editions (Jan, Apr, Oct), will be showcased in our annual outdoor cinema event, Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival, in July 2025.

Competition & Awards
Up-and-coming directors, screenwriters, music composers and filmmakers from all over the world submit their work ahead of our 3 seasonal events: January, April and October ,at which we present our jury’s final selection.

Categories
Best Medium or Feature Film
Best Short Film
Best Debut Film
Best Director
Best Actor/ Actress
Best Screenplay

We invite the winning directors, screenwriters and music supervisors or composers to present their work in the heart of Lisbon's old town, Alfama.

The selected, nominated, and awarded film promotional material is shared on our website and our social media platforms.

All winners will receive a laurel and a certificate.

Winning films will be promoted at our partner festivals.

Access to ECU Paris International Festival. Winners will have a privileged selection viewing at ÉCU. Several Cinalfama-awarded films were selected and awarded at ÉCU as well.

The person responsible for submitting the film certifies that he has all the rights and authorizations necessary to submit the film, including, but not limited to image rights, talent releases, soundtrack and/or source music releases; and assumes all responsibility for their material. Cinalfama Lisbon Screening and Awards accepts no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for any film submitted to the festival.

Every entry/submission will be judged based on its directing, acting, technical, and artistic merits, as related to the submission. All decisions made by the judge (s) are considered final and incontestable.

We reserve the right not to give all of the possible awards if we don't receive enough entries in a particular category or if none of the submissions meet our high judging standards.

​There can be if the jury by its quality so decides, two winners ex aequo in any of the categories.

The official selection is composed of 1 winning film per category, as well as possible honorable mention recipients.

The Cinalfama Awards only accept online screeners. We do not accept discs or any downloadable files.

Entry fees are nonrefundable.

Multiple entries are allowed. You can submit more than one film in the same category.

All submitted films will be eligible for the next edition if they have not been awarded in previous editions.

Submissions in languages ​​other than English must be subtitled in English. English subtitles must be embedded in the film. No additional srt files will be accepted.

Only films released after 2021 will be accepted.

Short films with a length of up to 30 minutes and medium or long films with a length of more than 30 minutes will be considered.

Cinalfama reserves the right to disqualify any film whose submitter might be in any way linked to illicit or criminal acts, proven or otherwise.

Selected, nominated, and awarded films' promotional material will be announced and viewable on our website (http://www.cinalfama.com) and our social media pages.

The awarded films' rightful owners of the rights, in each category of every edition, hereby authorize the film's live screening at Cinalfama events and the use of relevant content on our social media platforms. This authorization is an indispensable condition for inclusion in the festival's official selection.