Promising to be the best and most extensive edition yet held in Goa, the XIII Lusophone Film Festival will feature screenings of a variety of films, including biographies, documentaries, dramas, and fictional works, all highlighting the cultural, historical, and civilizational aspects of countries within the Lusophone world. This festival is part of the celebration of the 50 years of April 25th Carnation Revolution, a significant historical event that enabled the resumption of the diplomatic relations between India and Portugal, the 50th anniversary of which is also being commemorated this year.
The XIII Lusophone Film Festival 2025 will focus on themes such as liberty, democracy, equality, human rights and the struggle against discrimination. The festival aims to highlight the importance of friendship, tolerance and respect for diversity, with the goal of uniting people and cultures from different regions around the world.
The inaugural ceremony was held at the Auditorium 1 of Maquinez Place, Entertainment Society of Goa in Campal, Panjim with the screening of Ricardo Leite’s feature film ‘Maças Azuis,’ which centers around the life of Édila Gaitonde, an Azorean writer and pianist and a significant figure in the anti-colonial movement. She was married to Dr Pundalika Gaitonde, an Indian physician and founder of the Goa National Congress, who served as Goa’s first representative in the Indian Parliament after the territory was integrated into the Indian Union.
This year's edition will primarily feature biographies. In addition to Édila and Pundalika Gaitonde, other notable cultural and historical figures from the Lusophone world will be featured, including Sita Valles, Salgueiro Maia, Álvaro Cunhal, Carlos Paredes, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, José Cardoso Pires and Luís Vaz de Camões.
Ten feature films will be screened at the Maquinez Palace till March 9, with free entry for all attendees. The festival will continue from March 10 to 16, featuring special screenings at Centro de Língua Portuguesa do Camões in Panjim, Goa University in Taleigao, Parvatibai Chowgule College in Margao and Shivaji University in Kolhapur.
The XIII Lusophone Film Festival is being organized in partnership with and is supported by FESTin (Festival de Cinema Itinerante da Língua Portuguesa), Cinemateca Portuguesa and Camões, Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, Goa University, Parvatibai Chowgule College and Shivaji University.