5 April 2026 | Photo: Renato Cruz Santos
The book will be introduced in London on April 18 with a launch event at Reference Point
A new book exploring the intersections of nightlife and cinema is set to be published under the title ‘After Hours: Clubbing on Film’.
Expanding on a film programme originally co-curated by Ana David, Maria Ferreira and Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura, the publication positions club culture not simply as a social phenomenon but as a cinematic language shaped by memory, collectivity and nightlife culture.
Published by Batalha, the book brings together newly commissioned essays, filmmaker interviews and archival materials, tracing the porous boundaries between dancefloor and screen. Drawing in particular on Porto’s nightlife histories, the book situates local experience within a broader international discourse, where club culture emerges as a site of resistance, identity formation and aesthetic experimentation. Across its pages, nightlife is reframed as an evolving archive, one that resists fixed narratives while remaining deeply embedded in place.
The editorial framework reflects this multiplicity. Contributions from writers including Rodrigo Affreixo, Onyeka Igwe, Beatrice Loayza and McKenzie Wark engage with the politics and poetics of nightlife, while additional material from artists and filmmakers such as Agustina Comedi, Jeremy Deller, Mark Leckey and Cláudia Varejão extends the publication’s reach into adjacent artistic practices. Designed by Nuno Maio, the book’s visual language complements its thematic concerns, weaving together text and image into a cohesive, research-driven object.
Rather than functioning as a retrospective, ‘After Hours: Clubbing on Film’ operates as an active document, one that captures how nightlife continues to inform and disrupt cinematic thinking. In doing so, it foregrounds the club as a space of both cultural production and critical inquiry, where sound, image and collective experience converge.
The book will be launched with a public event in London on 18 April at Reference Point, where a celebratory gathering will take place. Entry is free with RSVP. ‘After Hours: Clubbing on Film’ will be available via Reference Point, Batalha Centro de Cinema and suite7a in Sydney, with additional national and international stockists to be announced.
