Announcing the 2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon!

Please join me in a personal passion project–the 2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon! As an American with Portuguese heritage, I want to celebrate Lusitanic contributions to world film and raise awareness of them. In the United States, Portuguese-speaking peoples and their descendants are underrepresented in media and often overlooked as distinct cultural and/or ethnic and/or racial groups. Brazilian film writer Letícia “Le” Magalhães co-founded this blogathon with me in 2019, and she will co-host again this year. Our goal is to turn the blogathon into an annual event. We need writers and readers to make the 2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon a success.

The Details

This fourth edition of the blogathon launches on Saturday, May 4, 2024. The heart of the event is Sunday, May 5, 2024, and it’s a special day. It’s World Portuguese Language Day. The Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) established the holiday to bring “together peoples with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity–to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures.” UNESCO recognized the annual holiday in 2019. The blogathon runs through Monday, May 6, 2024.

Anyone is welcome to participate! You can be a traditional blogger, podcaster, YouTuber, TikToker, etc. You just need to publish a relevant piece during the blogathon. Popular past post types include movie reviews and profiles, but you don’t have to limit yourself to those.

To participate, comment on this post and tell me your blog’s name, URL, and your subject. With a world of cinema to choose from, do try to not overlap your subject with another’s. For example, if someone has already selected to write a profile of Carmen Miranda or Tom Hanks, you’re still free to review one or more of their movies. If you know your preferred publication date, you can share that as well. You’re also welcome to update me as your piece progresses.

For online promotions, Le and I will publicize your piece on our blogs and in our social media. If you’d like to be tagged in our promotions on Facebook, X/Twitter, or Instagram, please let me know your relevant handles below. We ask you to use one of the blogathon banners below and link it to this announcement post.

I heartily encourage you to check out and comment on other participants’ posts. We have a great starting group of returnees, and they are generous with their time in reading others’ work and leaving comments.

Possible Topics

If you’d like to join in, but you’re uncertain if you understand what or who is an appropriate subject, this is the section for you!

The major Lusophone countries or regions of the world are Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, East Timor, Goa, Macau, and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. Due to exploration, colonization, slavery, trade, missionary work, economic and political diasporas, and immigration, Lusitanic cultures spread world-wide. Like Hispanics, Lusitanics can be of any race or ethnicity or a combination of them.

You have a lot of freedom when choosing a subject relevant to these peoples. It is up to you whether you want to focus on a Lusitanic heritage film creative or select films by topic or setting or characters. Even though this blog most frequently covers the silent and classic film eras, the blogathon is not limited by era. You can choose a contemporary subject.

Still need more inspiration?

Below are some Wikipedia entries that may be helpful. You’re also welcome to ask for help or check out past Luso World Cinema Blogathons!

Here are lists of American actors with Lusitanic heritage:

• American film people with Portuguese heritage
• American actresses with Portuguese heritage
• American actors with Portuguese heritage
• American actors with Brazilian heritage
• American actors with Cape Verdean heritage

Here are lists of movies made by Lusophone countries and regions:

• Films from Portugal
• Films from Brazil
• Films from Cape Verde
• Films from Mozambique
• Films from Angola
• Films from Guinea-Bissau
• Films from São Tomé and Príncipe
• Films from Equatorial Guinea*
• Films from East Timor*

*Some films from these countries will fit the blogathon theme, and some will not.

Here are lists of movies set in Lusophone Countries and regions:

• Films set in Portugal
• Films set in Brazil
• Films set in Cape Verde
• Films set in Mozambique
• Films set in Angola
• Films set in Guinea-Bissau
• Films set in São Tomé and Príncipe
• Films set in Macau / Macao*
• Films set in Goa*

*Some films from these regions will fit the blogathon theme, and some will not.

2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon Participants

Look below for current participants and their topics. As more bloggers join, this list will be updated.

2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon Banners

Aniki Bóbó (1942)

The Blue Eyes of Yonta (1992)

A Canção de Lisboa / Song of Lisbon (1933)

Captains Courageous (1937)

Central do Brasil / Central Station (1998)

Joe DeRita

Kuxa Kanema: the Birth of Cinema (2002)

Keanu Reeves

Sambizanga (1972)

São Paulo S.A. (1967)