T o rr e s v e d ra s
host city 2019
“Where the land ends and the sea begins” - Luiz Vaz de Camões
Portugal has always been a country open to the world, making interculturality one of its
characteristics. Torres Vedras, territory where the vineyards merge with the landscape on
the slopes defended by the Torres Vedras Lines, is no exception. Throughout its history has
been a point of departure and return, a meeting point for travelers…
Embodying a city policy that chooses culture as a structuring element, it is with great
commitment and a strong sense of hospitality that we welcome the 12th ART&TUR:
International Tourism Film Festival.
In Torres Vedras, we privilege the (re)discovery of the natural and cultural heritage, the
relationship with the communities and a sustainable tourism that protects and safeguards
the local identities. In this sense, our values are aligned with the concept and principles that
govern this initiative, unique in the national panorama, and which opens Portugal once again
to the world.
Recently Torres Vedras was the stage for the filming of the movie “Wellington Lines”, a process
that involved the local community and left its contribution to the creation of an imaginary that
invites travelers and tourists from around the world to come to know the defensive system
that at the beginning of the nineteenth century, halted the advance of Napoleon’s troops,
changing their fate and building an alternative path for Europe. This cinematographic work
circulated by prestigious international festivals, including Venice, being the only Portuguese
film to compete for the Golden Lion in 2012, and later, in 2014, was selected by the Portuguese
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to represent Portugal as Oscar nominee for
Best Foreign Film at the American Film Academy.
We are sure that the film has contributed to projecting Torres Vedras internationally as a
sustainable tourist destination and to revealing its enormous potential as an attractive
territory for the development of film production activities. The creation of the Centro de
Portugal Film Commission gives scale, robustness and consistency to the efforts made by the
municipality in this field and reinforces the conviction that, as at the time of the construction
of the Torres Vedras Lines, “unity is strength”.
The Municipality of Torres Vedras warmly welcomes all participants in this edition of the
ART&TUR Festival wishing that the magic of film invades the city!
Carlos Bernardes
President of the Municipality of Torres Vedras