Lisbon Theatre and Film School

The Lisbon Theatre and Film School (Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema) of the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon inherited the function of the National Conservatoire, founded by Almeida Garrett, in 1836, and of teaching Film, introduced in the same establishment since 1971. The main goal of the Lisbon Theatre and Film School is training in the fields of Theatre and Cinema. Sometimes it is still referred to by its former designation "Conservatório Nacional". It is a public institution of higher education created in Lisbon but now located in Amadora, Portugal. History The Lisbon Theatre and Film School was set up in Lisbon by Decree-Law nr. 310/83, dated July 1 (1983). The object of this legal document was to reconvert the National Conservatoire (Conservatório Nacional), the establishment of artistic education, and the setting up of several new establishments offering degrees in the same artistic areas as the Conservatório, among which this school, specifically directed at theatre and film education. Theatre Education had a long tradition in the National Conservatoire: it went back to the date of its creation in 1836, by Decree of Queen Maria II, in the scope of a Plan for the foundation and organisation of a National Theatre proposed by João Baptista de Almeida Garrett, then still called Conservatório Geral de Arte Dramática and formed by three Schools: Escola Dramática ou de Declamação for drama education, Escola de Música for music education (integrating the former Conservatório de Música, set up in Casa Pia by Decree of 1835) and Escola de Dança, Mímica e Ginástica Especial for dance, mime arts and especial gymnastics education.