Ghosts of an Empire explores the colonial imagination of Portuguese cinema since the beginning of the 20th century.100 years of cinema. As a contrast to the productions that related imperial domination, films and gazes of different generation of Portuguese filmmakers, as well as their testimonies, unmask the myths that have been dressing up the violent gest of colonial exploitation and that still inhabit memories today. The contrasts between the images, the various analyses and attitudes reveal very topical questions.

Author and director Ariel de Bigault works between France, Portugal, Brazil and Africa. After first documentaries in Portugal, the series Éclats Noirs du Samba (4x52min) brings together huge Afro-Brazilian artists, including Gilberto Gil and Grande Othelo. Afro Lisboa (1996) and Margem Atlântica (2006) come to meet African immigrants, people from different ages, who are building a place and an identity in Lisbon. Canta Angola (2000) celebrates popular music in Angola, still torn apart by the war. She also contributed to the diffusion of Lusophone music, especially that of Cape Verde and Angola, with various CD series.

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AR DE FILMES is a production company that has established itself in the Portuguese cultural scene through the singularity of producing both cinema and theatre. This option has proved to be quite successful, allowing the producer to go through several moments of crisis, by betting on the diversity of financing and support, a strategy that has made the company achieve exceptional results of financial strength and liquidity capacity. In 2010, when FILME DO DESASSOSSEGO was completed, AR DE FILMES took the first step to consolidate the theatre company, opening the Teatro do Bairro the following year, which today gives the company its own name. This theatre structure allowed AR DE FILMES to survive the crisis that continued in the following years in the area of ​​cinema and, later, gave the producer incredible conditions for the production of OS MAIAS. The company's cast (which fully participated in the film) and Teatro do Bairro (which was the stage for all kinds of rehearsals and tests) were indispensable instruments for the production of this project. AR DE FILMES is centered on the work of its producer Alexandre Oliveira, who leads the productions of its main authors: João Botelho in cinema, António Pires in theatre and Luísa Costa Gomes in writing (both for theater and for cinema), but it has been coming extending work in cinema with other filmmakers, such as Margarida Gil, Ariel de Bigault and André Marques.

In theatre, the company produced more than 35 shows. All these plays were staged by António Pires. In cinema, AR DE FILMES produced two fictional feature films that appear on the list of the most watched Portuguese films of the last 12 years which are: FILME DO DESASSOSSEGO and OS MAIAS. AR DE FILMES innovated extraordinarily in the way of distributing Portuguese cinema by reinventing a new circuit through partnerships with municipal film theatres across the country, breaking the record of viewers per session (150 viewers, almost 10 times higher than the other most watched Portuguese films). Another aspect of this innovation was the fact that, for the first time, with a Portuguese film, it reached all districts of the country. Regarding the film OS MAIAS, it was a particularly significant study case because, for the first time, a work of undeniable public service - the fixing in cinema of a mandatory reading book in schools - was the most watched film of the year, consolidating itself among the 10 most viewed between 2004 and 2014. Once again, it was undoubtedly the innovation in the communication strategy of AR DE FILMES that allowed this result. To all this, we must add the circuit of teaching the discipline of Portuguese that saw the film, and the director followed sessions that involved more than 150 schools, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Portuguese Teachers Association. At festivals and internationally, AR DE FILMES has ensured the circulation of works, as confirmed by the list of festivals and exhibitions where films have been shown, always covering more than three continents. But, above all, we are proud of the premiere of FILME DO DESASSOSSEGO in New York, in a partnership with the MOMA museum, TRIBECCA CINEMAS and POETS HOUSE, and for the premiere of OS MAIAS in Brazil in November 2015, which circulated with a number number of copies in 10 cities including Brasília, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. CINEMA, MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA AND ME had a unique journey in this area, having been presented in more than 35 festivals and shows all over the world, among which we highlight the international festivals of LOCARNO,VIENNALE, MOSTRA INTERNATIONAL CINEMA OF SÃO PAULO, CINEMA DU REEL and BAFICI in Buenos Aires among others. All fiction feature films produced by Ar de Filmes received prizes, both nationally and internationally, as well as relevant nominations, such as the PEREGRINAÇÃO that received the Portuguese nomination for the OSCARS and the GOYAS. Apart from feature films, Ar de Filmes produced 18 more films including documentaries and short films.

In 2015, Alexandre Oliveira was distinguished by the Academy of Cultural Producers with the Natércia Campos Award for Best Cultural Producer by the Academy of Cultural Producers, for his “ability to put himself at the service of a significant diversity of creators, languages, areas artists and promoters, defending the artistic project near the audiences.”

Founded in 2006 by Alexandre Perrier, Kidam was gradually formed through projects and encounters. In 2010, François-Pierre Clavel joined Alexandre as associate producer.

In synergy with their audiovisual production activities, they became interested in the Author very early on. For his creativity, and singularity, the Author is the most precious element, being the true source of richness and renewal in cinematographic proposals. The goal is now to focus on essential and conscious projects led by established or emerging authors, both in documentary and fiction.

Kidam's program has historically been built around cultural documentaries and gradually developed into society documentaries and fictions for all screens. The dynamism of Kidam's policy is based on a desire to bring out an eclectic cinema that is in tune with its era, which wants to abolish the barriers between the so-called author's film and that of the market. Aware of the changes that drive cinema, the company is developing internationally to find the financing models of tomorrow while respecting the model of French funding which allows singular films and aware of fully existing.