As Doclisboa returns for its 24th edition, from 15 to 25 October, Nebulae, the festival’s industry platform, once again brings a selection of auteur-driven non-fiction projects in development to Lisbon. Bringing together project presentations, creative labs, residencies, professional meetings and debates, Nebulae provides a space for exchange, creation and critical reflection on contemporary cinema.
Running from 18 to 25 October, Nebulae brings together filmmakers, producers, critics and international programmers around projects from Portugal, Greece and Ibero-America, creating opportunities for the development and presentation of new work, as well as for building networks and future collaborations. This year, the programme further strengthens its international dimension by welcoming Greece as Guest Country, fostering closer ties between different filmmaking and professional communities.
The programme is structured around the Portuguese Projects Showcase, dedicated to presenting new works from Portugal; Arché – Space for Creative Thinking and Development, which supports projects from Ibero-America, Portugal and Spain; and RAW – Arché→Work Residencies, aimed at films in the editing stage. These programmes are joined by Greece’s participation as Guest Country, with a special focus on the country’s cinema and professional sector.
Accreditation for Nebulae 2026 is now open and can be requested through the festival platform: Doclisboa 2026 accreditation.
Greece, Guest Country of Nebulae 2026
“The Empire”, de Dimitra Babadima (Good Attitude & Indigo View, Grécia)As part of Greece’s participation as Guest Country — in partnership with the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center and with the support of the Embassy of Greece in Lisbon — six Greek projects come to Doclisboa at different stages of development.
This presence brings new perspectives, languages and approaches to non-fiction cinema being made in Greece, bringing their filmmakers closer to the professional community gathered in Lisbon during the festival.
The programme includes 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., by Yorgos Teltzidis; Echoes of the Ancestors, by Andreas Siadimas; K., by Panagiotis Papatragkos; My Grandma’s Sister, by Eleni Kavouki; Searching for Thule, by Yannis Karpouzis; and The Empire, by Dimitra Babadima.
Arché marks its 12th edition with nine projects from six countries
Nine projects from six countries have been selected for the 12th edition of Arché – Space for Creative Thinking and Development, taking place from 18 to 25 October, also as part of Nebulae.
With the support of the Ibermedia Programme, Arché offers an intensive development programme comprising workshops, presentation sessions and one-to-one meetings with industry professionals. Over the course of the programme, participants have the opportunity to further develop their projects, engage with different perspectives and explore new paths towards their completion.
This year, the projects will be mentored by Andrés Duque, Ivette Liang and Mariana Gaivão, who will share their experience and perspectives throughout the process.
This year’s selection comprises Now what?, by Carles Bixquert (Spain); The Best Virgin, by Miguel Ángel Fajardo (Colombia); Atlas of Natural Spectra, by Franco Palazzo and Ile Dell’Unti (Argentina); Na Boca do Sol, by Leonardo Amaral (Brazil); Rosa Brilhante, by Lucila Podestá (Argentina); Choosing to be a landscape, by Mercedes Moncada (Spain); À Beira ou Cartas da Linha de Água, by Renata Sancho (Portugal); The man who seeks, by Santiago Sein (Argentina); and I, the Queen, by Tae Catalina Low (Colombia/Mexico).
Arché is also supported by ICA — Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual / Ministry of Culture.
RAW programme: five projects across creation, research and criticism
The 8th edition of RAW – Arché→Work Residencies brings together five new projects from five Ibero-American countries. The programme supports filmmakers with feature-length projects at different stages of development, from writing to editing, as well as critical projects exploring approaches to non-fiction cinema.
Born from a collaboration between Arché, Apordoc’s development lab at Doclisboa, and MÁRGENES//Work, part of the Márgenes Festival, RAW offers a residency programme spanning Portugal and Spain. The three creative projects and two critical projects develop their work under the guidance of Luís Miguel Oliveira, Pablo Marín and Pedro Filipe Marques, while also taking part in the Doc’s Kingdom seminar in Odemira, before completing their journey at MÁRGENES//Work in Madrid.
This year’s selected projects are: Metamorphosis of the Same: The Mirror of Water, by Diego Acosta Hernández (Chile); Exóticas, by Mariana Castiñeiras (Uruguay, Chile); Domitor and the Tale of Fire (Film about memory 2), by Salomon Perez (Peru); Vibrar conforme a síncope do objeto, segundo Arthur Omar, by Helena Elias (Brazil); and Notes for a Music Documentary: Non-representational Forms, by Nicolás Martín Ruiz (Spain).
By bringing cinematic and critical proposals into dialogue, RAW expands the notion of development beyond the conventional stages of film production, opening up space for research, writing, formal experimentation and reflection on the possibilities of non-fiction cinema.
RAW is supported by the Ibermedia Programme.
Projectos em montagem na Mostra de Projectos Portugueses
The Nebulae Showcase of Portuguese Projects aims to strengthen the visibility of Portuguese cinema on the international market by presenting projects in development to industry professionals and international guests, fostering new opportunities for co-production and distribution.
In 2026, five projects have been selected: Borralha – As Pedras que os Dias Levam, by Vasco Monteiro, produced by Madame Filmes, looks at the future of a mining community in northern Portugal faced with the possible resumption of tungsten extraction; When Night Falls, by Greta Ilia Cavaliere and Simona Cella, produced by Cidades Irrequietas Filmes, follows five young Italian-Senegalese women across Senegal on a journey in search of their roots during the 2023 protests; and Nha Terra Nha Força, by Paulo Carneiro, produced by Kintop and Bam Bam Cinema, in co-production with La Pobladora Cine and Providences, focuses on the young people who remained near the volcano on the island of Fogo and rebuilt their village after it was buried by lava.
The selection also includes Sussurros: Uma História de Cinema Português, by Érica Pereira Nascimento, produced by David & Golias, which draws on previously unseen archival material and the trajectories of seven pioneering women filmmakers who reinvented Portuguese cinema in the new climate of freedom ushered in by the 1974 Revolution; and A Minha Mãe Nunca me Ensinou a Cozinhar, by Sofia Pinto Coelho, produced by Blablabla Media, an intimate portrait of three generations of women — grandmother, daughter and granddaughter — whose experiences, concerns and expectations intersect as they reflect on the past and the future.
The Showcase of Portuguese Projects is supported by the Portugal Film Commission.
Guest projects at Nebulae 2026
Two of the projects selected for Nebulae come to Lisbon through the Joaquim Jordà Residency Programme 2026: End of the Present, by filmmaker Andrea Bussmann, and Hôtel Homère, by Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour and Ryan Ferko. They are joined by Transformation Stories from Akbelen Forest, by Selen Çatalyürekli, produced by Zeyneb Gültekin, which takes part in Nebulae through its partnership with Slow Pitch – ZagrebDox Pro 2026. The project follows five women defending the Akbelen Forest against the expansion of a coal mine, exploring, from an ecofeminist perspective, the personal transformation brought about by resistance and the possibility of imagining regenerative futures beyond extraction.
Nebulae 2026 Jury and Awards
The projects will be assessed by an international jury comprising Portuguese filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Leonor Noivo, co-founder of Terratreme Filmes, whose work spans filmmaking and the development of both fiction and documentary projects; Tyler Wilson, an American film programmer and critic whose career has been closely linked to Film at Lincoln Center and the New York Film Festival; and Filipino filmmaker John Torres, a distinctive voice in his country’s independent cinema, whose work often brings together memory, personal experience and experimental forms of storytelling.
Support for the projects extends beyond their participation in Nebulae, with a range of awards provided by national and international partners. These include financial support, artistic residencies, post-production services, distribution strategies and opportunities for circulation on international platforms. This year’s partners include RTP, Universidade Católica Portuguesa – School of Arts, DMIX Collective, UPF Barcelona School of Management, DAFilms, Documentary Association of Europe, ZagrebDoxPro and Agencia Freak.
Other Nebulae activities
Beyond its project development and presentation programmes, Nebulae once again offers a series of encounters dedicated to reflection and the exchange of practices around contemporary cinema. Constellations, a series of talks and debates open to the public, brings together filmmakers, critics and industry professionals to explore questions that cut across both Doclisboa’s films and programmes and the ways in which cinema is created, produced and circulated. Throughout the festival, round tables, conversations and professional meetings further expand this space for reflection and exchange, bringing together different experiences and perspectives on the challenges facing non-fiction cinema today.
The programme also includes the Filmmaking Seminar, developed in partnership with the UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art (UNDO), an intensive programme combining screenings, discussions and encounters with invited filmmakers, providing a space for work and reflection on documentary filmmaking practices.
