Entitled “Cinema in the Ruins”, the cycle kicks off on Saturday with the comedy “Asterix – The Domain of the Gods” and aims to “provide the public with new experiences in the Algarve at a site full of heritage and unique archeology”, explained the Direction Regional de Cultura do Algarve (DRCAlg), promoter of the initiative in partnership with cultural association CInemalua.

“The comedy ‘Asterix – The Domain of the Gods’ (in Portuguese) starts this film cycle, this Saturday on the 14th August. It is for people of all ages, from the age of three, the 2014 film is based on the comic book 'The Domain of the Gods' (released in France in 1971 and the 17th by the duo René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo), specified the DRCAlg.

The film “Queen of the Desert” directed by Louis Clichy and Alexandre Astier will be screened on 21 August. “Queen of the Desert”, an “eponymous” adaptation of a “biographical story” by Georgina Howell ( 1042-2016), directed by the German Werner Herzog, stated the DRCAlg. The film addresses the life of “Gertrude Bell, archaeologist, writer, cartographer and British politician at the beginning of the 20th century” and features actors such as Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson, added the regional public body.

At the end of the cycle, on the 28 August, spectators will be able to watch the film “Journey to Italy”, from 1954, directed by Roberto Rossellini, considered a “classic” and which DRCAlg classifies as a film to “see with the family”. Among the actors of “Journey to Italy” are names like Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders and Maria Mauban, indicated the same source.

DRCAlg also mentioned that the cycle, which aims to bring the public closer to the cultural and archaeological heritage of the Algarve, is carried out with the collaboration of Cinemalua, a cultural association founded in February 2020 and whose “purpose is the promotion and dissemination of cinematographic works, audiovisual projections and the carrying out of cultural activities”.

The ruins of Milreu are located near the town of Estoi, north of Faro and “present an uncovered complex built from the third century, consisting of a large manor house, agricultural facilities, a spa and a temple”, according to DRCAlg. The “residential area, which can be visited today, took advantage of part of the constructions of the previous villa and is organised around a central peristyle, with 22 columns, that surrounds an open courtyard, with a garden and the respective water tank”, it is added. The complex is also distinguished by a set of “mosaics” that make a “representation of marine life”.