The Working Class Heroes Grant is a Porto Industry Days film creation platform dedicated to the development and production of a new work about Porto, its communities, social memories and urban transformations.

Created in 2021 by Porto/Post/Doc, in partnership with Filmaporto – film commission, the grant invites national and international filmmakers to look at the city as a living territory, a space of work, a social archive and a place of cinematic imagination.

Through a €75,000 grant, the programme supports the creation of a new film that establishes a direct relationship with Porto, its history, its communities and the social, cultural and urban tensions that shape the city. More than production support, Working Class Heroes proposes a space where cinema can question the relationship between art, community, memory and territory.

Since 2024, the initiative has also been developed in collaboration with CaixaForum+ of the “la Caixa” Foundation and with the support of BPI, strengthening its ambition, sustainability and capacity to accompany the selected projects.

FORMAT

In 2026, the Working Class Heroes Grant once again invites three filmmakers to develop original proposals for a new film work about Porto.

The invited filmmakers will present their projects within Porto Industry Days before an international jury. The winning project will receive the €75,000 grant for development and production, with the commitment to be completed and presented at Porto/Post/Doc.

The programme includes public sessions dedicated to the work of the invited filmmakers, talks, project presentations and moments of encounter with industry professionals.

PARTICIPATION

Participation in the Working Class Heroes Grant is by invitation. There is no open call for this activity.

The invited filmmakers are selected by the organisation according to the singularity of their artistic path, the relevance of their perspective on the territory, their ability to engage with the city of Porto and the cinematic potential of the proposal to be developed.

OBJECTIVES

Working Class Heroes seeks to support films that start from Porto to address broader questions of work, belonging, memory, urban transformation, community and political imagination.

The programme affirms cinema as a poetic and critical tool to observe the city, give visibility to less represented stories and create new connections between film production, territory and collective life.

More information about the invited filmmakers, the project presentation and the jury of the 2026 edition will be available soon.

In partnership with:
Filmaporto – film commission
CaixaForum+ of the “la Caixa” Foundation.