More than 50,000 spectators attended Cinema Batalha in 2023

Between January and December 2023, Batalha Centro de Cinema welcomed 50,549 spectators over the 626 film sessions held. Reopened in December 2022, after a rehabilitation process, the space had an average of 81 spectators per session over the last year.

Of these more than 50,000 spectators, about 6,000 were students from the 42 institutions that joined the Escolas do Batalha program. The program included 41 film sessions designed for different levels of education, from preschool to high school. The 38 participating schools belonging to the Municipality of Porto had free admission.

The most followed retrospective was “Às Voltas com Cronenberg”, dedicated to Canadian director David Cronenberg. In total, 3,113 people watched the films presented over 36 sessions, which corresponds to an average of 86 viewers.

Among the thematic cycles presented, the most followed was “Sobre-vestir: Histórias de Cinema e Moda”, with an average of 125 spectators.

Of the total of 315 film sessions that were part of the Cinema Centre's program, 69 were dedicated to Portuguese cinema (which represents almost a quarter of the program). Batalha also presented 21 performances and concert films and received 138 guests for talks in sessions and lectures.

In 2023, Batalha also hosted 11 film festivals in the city — IndieJúnior Porto, Fantasporto, Porto Femme, Arquiteturas Film Festival, Multiplex, BEAST, Queer Porto, Festa do Cinema Francês, Family Film Project, MICAR and Porto/Post/Doc —, which reached a total of 22,000 people over 311 sessions.