Cinema & Philosophy at Nimas: a film series
All great films are philosophical — not because cinema seeks to apply or illustrate philosophical concepts, but rather because cinema is itself a distinctive form of reflective thought.
This is the premise behind the Cinema & Philosophy at Nimas film series. Throughout the 2026/27 academic year, the series will present one screening per month, featuring major works from film history selected and discussed by researchers and lecturers from the NOVA Institute of Philosophy (IFILNOVA) and the NOVA University Lisbon Master’s programmes in Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics and Artistic Studies: Maria João Mayer Branco, João Pedro Cachopo, Nélio Conceição, João Constâncio, Bartholomew Ryan and Paolo Stellino.
Wednesday, 23 September at 18h15
Screening of Lost Highway, directed by David Lynch
Commentary by João Pedro Cachopo
LOST HIGHWAY
by David Lynch
With Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia
USA, 1997 – 134′
trailer
Fred Madison, a jazz saxophonist, is accused of murdering his wife, Renee. On death row, he inexplicably transforms into a young man named Pete Dayton. Following Pete’s release, the lives of Fred and Pete become entangled in a surreal and suspenseful web of intrigue, desire and violence, orchestrated by the mysterious gangster Dick Laurent.
João Pedro Cachopo is Assistant Professor at NOVA FCSH, where he is a member of CESEM and a collaborator with IFILNOVA. His research focuses on questions of aesthetics, politics and technology, as well as on the relationship between the arts, within the context of a theory of the present. His most recent books include O Escândalo da Distância (2024), Callas e os Seus Duplos (2023) and A Torção dos Sentidos (2022).
1st semester of 2026/27 — next screenings
16 October — The Mirror, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Commentary by Bartholomew Ryan
25 November — Ikiru, directed by Akira Kurosawa
Commentary by João Constâncio
3 December — Winter Light, directed by Ingmar Bergman
Commentary by Paolo Stellino