Undercurrents, counterspells
programming committee: Victor Guimarães, Jowe Harfouche, Catarina Boieiro and Stefanie Baumann
What can cinema still do when the ubiquitous image has lost its capacity to disturb? What can be done when the bond between image and action appears to have been severed? Doc’s Kingdom 2026 takes these questions as its starting point for a wider reflection on the conditions under which images are made, circulated and received in times of accelerated dispossession and genocidal brutality.
And so the program draws on the work of filmmakers engaged with revolutionary imagination and the historic images that were once thought to carry it, and the collective and common forms that were never any single person or entity’s property, holding the opacity of the image as a political claim. Together, their films conjure five centuries of Mesoamerican resistance to colonial violence, the Palestinian liberation movement, and the aftermath of utopian experiments in ex-Yugoslavia, postwar Lebanon and rural Portugal. What connects them is less a theme than shared undercurrents: the refusal of thinking the image as just an evidentiary document; the embrace of memory through the work of collective disorientation; and the creation of visual and sonic trances capable of reactivating a sensibility numbed by algorithmic spells.
These films resist translation into the dominant audiovisual grammar, and ask of their viewers something the current image economy actively discourages: to wager counterspells that can jolt our bodies into movements.
>> GENERAL INFORMATION:
Doc’s Kingdom 2026 is composed of an intensive program of films, debates and other activities, from morning to night. If it’s your first time in the Seminar, please know that the participants are encouraged to join all the activities, so debates can refer to each other and previous sessions throughout the week. The activities will take place in different venues in the centre of Odemira (within walking distance), and one day in the neighbouring village of São Luís (transportation will be provided by the organisation).
The seminar will start on the evening of Friday, November 13, and it will end on November 18 just before lunchtime. The main language of the Seminar is English.
>> REGISTRATION FEES:
The registration fee includes access to all the screenings, activities, debates and all meals (except breakfast), catered by the local team of Cooperativa Regenerativa.
Please note that the registration fee does NOT include accommodation and travel expenses to and from Odemira.
Registrations are limited and will be filled in order of receipt. We encourage you to register as soon as possible.
250€ — Portugal residents and people from the Global South
350€ — International participants
220€ — Odemira residents / Portugal-based students / Members of Apordoc or MUTIM
380€ or more — This registration tier is intended for participants who are funded by an institution or for those with enough financial means who wish to support a more sustainable seminar model for Doc’s Kingdom—your contribution helps fund and expand the Dear Doc Fellowship programme.
>> Please complete your registration through this link.
Cancellation of participation by October 13 will result in a 50% refund of the fee. Please note that after October 13, no refunds will be issued.
>> PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
Accommodation
Due to limited availability onsite, we highly suggest you book accommodation before you proceed with the Seminar registration. Group chats (whatsapp) for sharing accommodation with other participants will be available in the registration form.
You can see some of our suggestions of accommodation in Odemira and São Luís here.
We advise you to contact the hotels and guesthouses directly by email or telephone, and avoid online booking platforms. Please note that both Booking and Airbnb are currently on the BDS list.
Shuttle service
We encourage participants to bring their own vehicles for greater flexibility. However, there may be a shuttle service available for participants staying outside of Odemira, operating on a set schedule at the beginning and end of the day.
If you are staying outside of Odemira please be sure to contact our team until October 13 and inform us of where you are staying. We will try, as much as possible, to have the daily shuttle service serve the majority of those in need.
For example, some pick-up location from the past were:
São Luís – CoRe (EN Estrada Nacional 120, nº18)
Bemposta – Quinta do Chocalhinho (Bemposta, 7630-028)
Odemira – Filarmónica (R. Souza Prado, 7630-174 Odemira)
Meals
For this edition, we will offer vegan, vegetarian, and non-vegetarian meal options, provided by a local catering service, Cooperativa Regenerativa. Snacks and coffee will be provided between sessions.
>> TRAVEL TO ODEMIRA ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Shared rides:
A group chat for organising shared rides can be found in the form.
By bus:
From Lisbon
Rede Expressos bus (approx. 12€ to 15€ – buy in advance online)
Departure: 7.30am (Sete Rios) or 9am (Aeroporto)
Arrival: 11.10am or 4.45pm Odemira
CP train (approx. 11€ to 18€)
Departure: 10.02am (Oriente) or 2.02pm (Oriente)
Arrival: 11.56am (Funcheira) or 3.53pm (Funcheira)
(Plus approx. 1h45 by bike until Odemira. There’s no bus between the train station and the centre of Odemira.)
From Beja
Rodoviária do Alentejo (buy ticket on board)
Departure: 4.10pm, Beja Bus Terminal (Monday to Friday)
Arrival: 6.30pm Odemira
From Faro
Rede Expressos bus (14,10€ – buy in advance online)
Departure: 9.30am Faro
Arrival: 4.45pm Odemira (2 transfers)
From Porto
Rede Expressos bus (16 to 40€ – buy in advance online)
Departure: 10.30am (Airport) or 11am (Campanhã)
Arrival: 6.50pm Odemira
Other options:
BlaBlaCar (for travels in the Iberian Peninsula).
There are plenty of Flixbus or trains from Europe to Lisbon/Porto or other cities in Portugal.
>> After reading carefully all the information presented here, if you have any further questions, please contact our team at hospitality@docskingdom.org