Dissemination

CIAC Researcher Highlighted at the 12th Edition of the Arquiteturas Film Festival

---

CIAC researcher Sílvia Leiria Viegas participated in the 12th edition of the Arquiteturas Film Festival (AFF), highlighted through her presence in an interview published by the KoozArch platform, where she explores the intersections between architecture, cinema, and migration—central themes of this year’s festival edition. The interview also featured Paulo Moreira, the festival’s director, and Fabrizio Gallanti, from the architecture center arc en rêve.

This year’s theme — “At the Border / Na Fronteira” — proposes a critical reflection on the multiple meanings and implications of physical and symbolic borders, both in architectural practice and in the ways people inhabit and resist within spaces. The conversations promoted by the festival reveal cinema as an essential tool for reflecting on the built environment and its social and political contexts, highlighting the role of the Arquiteturas Film Festival as a transdisciplinary platform for debate and action.

During the interview, Sílvia Leiria Viegas discusses her research lines at CIAC, focusing on the right to the city, the living conditions of migrant populations, and the role of digital media and art as instruments for transformation and the production of counter-narratives. She emphasizes the importance of a critical and interdisciplinary approach that brings together architectural, social, and artistic practices, arguing that “digital cinema can enrich digital space by challenging established narratives, amplifying marginalized voices, and engaging audiences through powerful imagery.”

As a member of this edition’s selection committee, the researcher took part in the screening process of more than 100 films from 38 countries, highlighting works such as Twin Fences (2024), Free Words: A Poet from Gaza (2024), Maio (2025), and Outra Ilha (2024), all marked by critical reflections on inequality, displacement, social exclusion, structural violence, and political resistance. Sílvia Leiria Viegas emphasizes that the selection process was “a challenging and rewarding experience,” underlining the strong political and human dimension present in the submitted works.

The Arquiteturas Film Festival is organized by INSTITUTO, in collaboration with national and international partners. This edition includes the participation of CIAC and the Cineclube de Faro on the selection committee, reinforcing the presence of the University of Algarve in critical reflections on architecture and society. The invited institution this year, arc en rêve, contributed with programming and content focused on architectural mediation practices.

The full interview is available (At the Border: Arquiteturas Film Festival’s theme for its twelfth edition – KoozArch).

---