Once You Go Black, by Lara Mesquita
Novas Narrativas de Caça
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Date
- 18:00 / Cancelled 18:00 / Sold out Sunday, 18:00
Location
Studio Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian
This episode of the anthology series “Novas Narrativas de Caça” serves as a starting point for a discussion on ghettoisation and interracial relations, in a conversation between director Lara Mesquita, researcher Raquel Lima, and the episode’s lead actress, Catarina Amaral.
Is it possible to desire and be desired without the constraints of social constructs?
This episode paves the way for a conversation about fetishisation and intimacy, relationships, and the narratives that shape what we think of as ‘preference’.
It is an opportunity to hear from three Black women who aim to change the narrative and the way stories have been told: Raquel Lima, recently awarded the prestigious 2026 Emma Goldman Prize for her research on feminism and inequalities; the director and screenwriter Lara Mesquita; and Catarina Amaral, the actress who plays Salomé, the lead character in Once You Go Black. The talk will be moderated by Marta Lança.
About the series
Novas Narrativas de Caça is an anthology comprising seven independent stories, linked by their theme – the search for identity and belonging among Black characters, Portuguese people of African descent who struggle to find their place in a society that often ignores and oppresses them. “Until lions tell their own stories, hunters will always be the heroes of the hunting narratives.”
Summer Garden 2026
This event is part of Summer Garden 2026, a free admission festival, with concerts, DJ sets, talks and films. Learn more
Speakers
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Lara Mesquita
A Portuguese actress and voice actress, she is the daughter of a Mozambican mother and a Portuguese father. She completed an acting training course at In Impetus and holds a degree in Theatre – Acting from ESTC. In 2011, she directed her first production, Leitura Encenada. She made her acting debut in the play A Geração da Utopia and appeared in Narciso, directed by Luís Miguel Sintra, at the Teatro da Cornucópia. She has worked with Jean Paul Bucchieri, Álvaro Correia, Francisco Salgado, André e. Teodósio, Ricardo Cabaça and As Crianças Loucas. She has taught drama and created and led the “Artes nas Férias” workshop for Fábrica das Artes – CCB.
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Catarina Amaral
She studied at ArtsEd and the American Musical Theatre Academy and took part in numerous shows abroad. Upon returning to Portugal, she joined the supporting cast of A Fazenda on TVI. In theatre, she has played various roles, including Desdemona in Que Seria, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, directed by Lara Mesquita. She made her debut as a choreographer in the music video for the single by the artist Nena and in the musical Princesas em Concerto by Elenco Produções. She plays an active role in the field of education and teaches Jazz and Musical Theatre to adults and children at EDSAE — Escola de Teatro Musical, as well as running various workshops at different performing arts schools.
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Raquel Lima
Poet, transdisciplinary artist and researcher. She has presented her work in various countries across Europe, the Americas and Africa, notably at the 8th Biennial of São Tomé and Príncipe, the 59th Venice Biennale, and the 35th São Paulo Biennial. She holds a degree in Art Studies and is a PhD candidate in Postcolonial Studies. She has published the book Ingenuity, Innocence, Ignorance and is one of the co-founders of UNA – União Negra das Artes. She was recently awarded the prestigious 2026 Emma Goldman Prize for her research on feminism and inequalities, highlighting the work of the CES/FEUC PhD candidate on oratory, slavery and Afro-diasporic movements.
Photo © Estelle Valente
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Marta Lança
Writer, editor, translator and cultural programmer. Founder and editorial director of BUALA, a platform dedicated to contemporary cultures of the Global South and Afro-diasporic practices, her work brings together critical thinking, colonial memory and the arts. She contributes regularly to magazines, newspapers and academic projects. Her work lies at the intersection of culture, politics and decolonial practices. She has translated key authors such as Achille Mbembe and Felwine Sarr into Portuguese. She holds a degree in Portuguese Studies from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences (FCSH), New University of Lisbon.
Programme
18:00 / Screening of Once You Go Black
Following the end of yet another relationship, Salomé, a Black woman who has only ever been in interracial relationships, bumps into a former schoolmate, who is also Black. The conversation that ensues, about existentialism, love and ‘race’, leads Salomé to imagine what it would be like to be in a romantic relationship with a black man for the first time. The romance that follows leads Salomé to rethink her identity: ‘Tell me who you love and I’ll tell you who you are?’
18:30 / Talk
Moderation
Credits
Written and directed by
Lara Mesquita
Photography
Maurício Franco
Editing
Laura Magalhães
Cast
Catarina Amaral, Carlos Pereira, Cirila Bossuet, Mariana Lencastre, Camila Cerqueira
Production
Many Takes and Galo Bravo
Executive production
Alexandra Matos, Alexandre Antunes, Luís Almeida and Victor Lemos
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.
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