Portrait recorded in 16mm developed with caffenol at Casa do Xisto in the Summer of 2022
Hey there!
I'm Sofia Pires, a self-publisher, filmmaker, and cultural mediator, with a fondness for alternative processes and collaboration and extensive experience in cultural production, non-formal education, and community programming.
My deep passion for filmmaking first developed while working in the projection booth of Cinemateca Portuguesa after completing my Bachelor’s Degree in Sound and Image at ESAD.CR. The experience aroused my curiosity and urged me to further explore film preservation practices and the materiality of the film medium by enrolling in a MA course in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image at the University of Amsterdam—where I began specializing in the manipulation of archival material to master the art of film preservation and projection.
Over the last decade, I have applied my background as an archivist to film production and programming, working with notable foundations, production houses, and cultural venues such as Wim Wenders Stiftung, O Som e a Fúria, and Brotéria. Additionally, inspired by my natural propensity for collaboration and mutual support, I've founded and run various independent projects like Cineclube Campo Aberto and Cine à Roda with the goal to diversify the local scene and provide opportunities for cultural exchange and community building.
My artwork has been presented in venues in Lisbon such as Livraria Tigre de Papel; Associação Goela; Largo Residências; Cosmos, A Ilha, XYZ Books, amongst others. I was one of the founding members of El Warcha Lisboa, a non-profit that promoted hands-on education and creative training for socially vulnerable groups, and Laboratório da Cave, an artist-run film lab devoted to analog filmmaking practices. I'm also a member of MUTIM - Mulheres Trabalhadoras das Imagens em Movimento, and I contribute regularly to the Sustainable Darkroom's publications. I'm currently researching errors and mistakes as mail art therapy in the context of the collective project UFA, which proposes the intersection between artistic creation and care practices, and whose development is shared with Catarina Real (Color Therapy) and Maria Bernardino (Touch Therapy), with the support of DGARTES.
Each and every one of my professional endeavors is driven by a perennial need to explore alternative processes and methods of collaboration. My research mainly revolves around storytelling, language, and memory, and my practice is typically presented in the form of publications, films, workshops, and community-oriented events.
film projection / film programming and selecting / documentary film production / archival, documentary and visual research / cultural production / workshop facilitation / live cinema / other creative collaborations related to cinema, writing, independent publishing, and community-oriented projects.
I now live in Portugal, but I'm used to working remotely across different time zones and open to relocation if the right opportunity arises.
Full CV and recommendations are available upon request:
☞ sofiasspires [at] gmail [dot] com
This website, as well as my life's work, are permanently under construction.
I sincerely thank all the friends, accomplices, mentors, collective bodies, gentle presences, and guiding stars who have helped me along the way.
Without every single one of you, the construction site would have been way lonelier and dangerously silent.
This website was built by me on WordPress with Lay Theme, created and maintained by 100k Studio GmbH, and it is hosted on DreamHost.
Credits for images, photographs, and texts are duly identified on each project's page.
Portrait recorded at Casa do Xisto in 2022
Hey there!
I'm Sofia Pires, a self-publisher, filmmaker, and cultural mediator, with a fondness for alternative processes and collaboration and extensive experience in cultural production, non-formal education, and community programming.
My deep passion for filmmaking first developed while working in the projection booth of Cinemateca Portuguesa after completing my Bachelor’s Degree in Sound and Image at ESAD.CR. The experience aroused my curiosity and urged me to further explore film preservation practices and the materiality of the film medium by enrolling in a MA course in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image at the University of Amsterdam—where I began specializing in the manipulation of archival material to master the art of film preservation and projection.
Over the last decade, I have applied my background as an archivist to film production and programming, working with notable foundations, production houses, and cultural venues such as Wim Wenders Stiftung, O Som e a Fúria, and Brotéria. Additionally, inspired by my natural propensity for collaboration and mutual support, I've founded and run various independent projects like Cineclube Campo Aberto and Cine à Roda with the goal to diversify the local scene and provide opportunities for cultural exchange and community building.
My artwork has been presented in venues in Lisbon such as Livraria Tigre de Papel; Associação Goela; Largo Residências; Cosmos, A Ilha, XYZ Books, amongst others. I was one of the founding members of El Warcha Lisboa, a non-profit that promoted hands-on education and creative training for socially vulnerable groups, and Laboratório da Cave, an artist-run film lab devoted to analog filmmaking practices. I'm also a member of MUTIM - Mulheres Trabalhadoras das Imagens em Movimento, and I contribute regularly to the Sustainable Darkroom's publications. I'm currently researching errors and mistakes as mail art therapy in the context of the collective project UFA, which proposes the intersection between artistic creation and care practices, and whose development is shared with Catarina Real (Color Therapy) and Maria Bernardino (Touch Therapy), with the support of DGARTES.
Each and every one of my professional endeavors is driven by a perennial need to explore alternative processes and methods of collaboration. My research mainly revolves around storytelling, language, and memory, and my practice is typically presented in the form of publications, films, workshops, and community-oriented events.
film projection / film programming and selecting / documentary film production / archival, documentary and visual research / cultural production / workshop facilitation / live cinema / other creative collaborations related to cinema, writing, independent publishing, and community-oriented projects.