LEFFEST 2025 presents a constellation of personalities whose work is inscribed in the living history of contemporary culture. Actors, filmmakers, musicians and multidisciplinary artists gather in Lisbon and Amadora to share with the public the strength of their journeys, in a festival that celebrates cinema as a total art and a place of encounter.
The central tribute of this edition goes to Wagner Moura, actor, filmmaker, journalist and musician born in Salvador da Bahia. He became a defining figure of Brazilian cinema with Carandiru (2003) and Tropa de Elite (2007), and achieved international recognition with Elysium (2013) and his portrayal of Pablo Escobar in the series Narcos (2015–2017), which earned him Golden Globe nominations. He made his directorial debut with Marighella (2019) and, in 2025, won the Best Actor Award at Cannes for O Agente Secreto, by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The festival pays tribute to him as a symbol of the strength of contemporary Brazilian cinema.
Music and visual art meet in the presence of Kim Gordon, co-founder of Sonic Youth, visual artist and actress. Her film credits include Last Days (2005), I’m Not There (2007) and Kristen Stewart’s The Chronology of Water, screened this year out of competition. Gordon joins the Official Selection Jury.
Another legendary name is Laurie Anderson, multimedia artist, filmmaker, composer and inventor of instruments. She rose to international fame in the early 1980s with the hit O Superman, building a body of work that blends music, video, dance and language. In cinema, she directed Home of the Brave (1986) and composed for Wim Wenders and Jonathan Demme. She returns to the festival after previously presenting Heart of a Dog (2015) at LEFFEST.
The British actress Miranda Richardson will also be honoured. One of the UK’s most acclaimed stage and screen actresses, she is known for films such as The Crying Game (1992), Damage (1992), Kansas City (1996), Sleepy Hollow(1999), The Hours (2002) and the Harry Potter saga. She has received two Oscar nominations and won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
The new generation is represented by Stacy Martin, the French-British actress discovered by Lars von Trier in Nymphomaniac (2013). She also worked with Brady Corbet on Vox Lux (2018) and The Brutalist (2024). This year she serves on the Official Selection Jury.
A major retrospective is dedicated to Hal Hartley, a cult figure of American independent cinema. Since the late 1980s, Hartley has built a singular body of work defined by creative independence, with titles such as The Unbelievable Truth (1989), Trust (1990), Surviving Desire (1992), Amateur (1994) and the trilogy Henry Fool, Fay Grim and Ned Rifle. Alongside the retrospective, he presents Where to Land in its European premiere, in competition.
Mexican cinema is represented by master filmmaker Arturo Ripstein, honoured in this edition. A disciple of Luis Buñuel, Ripstein has directed more than 60 films, building a body of work rooted in melodrama with titles such as El imperio de la fortuna (1986), La reina de la noche (1994) and La perdición de los hombres (2000). He will attend the festival accompanied by his long-time collaborator and screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego.
The British actor, playwright and director Simon McBurney will also be honoured. Founder of the Complicité company, he has revolutionised contemporary theatre with works that blur the boundaries between stage, music and image. He conceived and directed Mnemonic, The Master and Margarita, Beware of Pity and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and has built a striking career in opera and dance as well.
Among the filmmakers featured is Olivier Assayas, a central figure of French cinema, known for Demonlover (2002), Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) and Personal Shopper (2016). He presents his latest film, The Wizard of the Kremlin, screened out of competition.
Christian Petzold returns to LEFFEST, where he was previously honoured in 2019. A leading figure of the Berlin School, he is the director of Barbara (2012), Phoenix (2014) and Afire (2023). His new film, Miroirs No. 3, premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight and will be presented in competition.
These names are joined by other significant presences, including Isabel Ruth, who will be the focus of a retrospective, and Hiam Abbass, reinforcing LEFFEST’s vocation as a space of encounter between creators, cultures and stories that span generations.