The alchemical process lies at the core of the experience: the developer will be prepared using coffee, vitamin C, and baking soda, while other elements include hydrogen peroxide, vinegar or acetic acid—with the possibility of substituting lemon juice as a natural alternative to citric acid. Hybrid techniques will also be explored, such as producing negatives with a coffee-based developer and subsequently achieving positive images using a mint-based developer, allowing for experimentation with different tonalities and textures.

More than a commemorative edition, this tenth moment positions itself as a point of convergence between practice, research and community — a space for reconnection and future projection of what has been collectively built over time.

The residency culminates on the night of July 22 with a public outdoor screening and a closing celebration in the Casa do Xisto Garden-Cinema, in partnership with Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival. This session will present the outcomes of the tenth edition alongside a selection of films produced throughout previous editions, activating the living memory of the project. For this occasion, participants from past editions will be invited, fostering a reunion of the community—a broader celebration of what has, over the years, become a true “Xisto family.”

The 16mm Immersive Lab had nine participants, selected through an open call, from different places, from Los Angeles, in the United States, Romania to Portugal: Lisbon, Trás-os-Montes, Porto, Viseu and locally, neighboring villages Barcelos municipality. With the final result of eighteen short films with a free theme influenced by nature and the region where the initiative is located. Nine black and white films, with a developer based on coffee, caffenol, guided by Ricardo Leite, and nine colour films, Ektachrome by Kodak, developed using the traditional process that uses tetenal chemical developer, guided by Steve Cossman of MONO NO AWARE, NY. 

The films were shown primarily at Casa do Xisto for participants, guests and friends, open to neighbors, residents of the village of Macieira de Rates. We received a visit from the artists and director of Doc’s Kingdom, Nuno Lisboa, who in the end invited a participating artist, Juliana Julieta, from the neighboring village of Courel, to do the Naomi Uman workshop, also in 16mm during the artist residency at Doc’s Kingdom. 

Filmes do Xisto opened Doc’s Kingdom 2021, on October 1st in Arcos de Valdevez, on the program “A Vez do Cinema”. They were also presented at Porto Post Doc 2021, at Industry Screenings. 

The initiative has the financial support of the Instituto de Cinema e Audiovisual Português – ICA, the Municipality of Barcelos, Kodak and has MONO NO AWARE as an international partner.