The OFF SCREEN – Summer Course is a gathering focused on presenting, debating, and developing research and creative practices within the realms of Cinema, Social Sciences, Arts, and Communication Sciences. It is structured in two parts: the first features presentations of reference research and creative practices, while the second is dedicated to presenting essays and research developed throughout the year by participants of the Course, as well as works from Universities and Institutions associated with AO NORTE projects.

The Course aligns with the general theme of the Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival – Identity, Memory, and Border. In 2025, it aims to explore the theme Cinema and Territory through multiple perspectives: the physical territory and its associated disputes and powers involving individuals, groups, institutions, and nations; the lived territory, referring to the subjective experiences, memories, and perceptions of individuals and communities; and the represented territory, concerning the images, discourses, and narratives that construct a symbolic or mediated vision of space.

Cinema serves as a powerful medium to explore and represent territories, allowing for the overlapping of physical, lived, and represented dimensions. Certain exemplary films and documentaries embody multiple dimensions simultaneously.

Territory is a category that extends beyond its physical dimension, understood as a space that is delineated and appropriated by individuals, groups, or institutions. It is a relational concept that involves dimensions of power, identity, and cultural practices. In critical geography, territory is not merely a physical space but also a place of meaning-making and contestation.

The notion of lived territory refers to the experiences, memories, and subjective perceptions individuals and communities have of a space. It is constructed through daily practices, emotions, and interactions, often in opposition to the abstract representations of maps or official boundaries. This concept is crucial to understanding people's emotional and cultural relationship with a place.

By represented territory, we refer to the images, discourses, and narratives that construct a symbolic or mediated vision of space. This includes maps, literary texts, audiovisual productions, and other forms of representation. In visual anthropology and cinema, represented territory can both reveal lived realities and construct imaginaries distant from everyday experiences.