The Cinemateca Portuguesa is a block off Lisbon's tree-lined Avenida de Libertade, about halfway between the Estátua de Marquês Pombal and the Baxia. To translate: it's midway between the heart of tourist town and where you'll find many of the high-end shops and restaurants. My personal visit to the Cinemateca came after a hearty meal that included Douro Valley wine, and then, after dinner, sitting out at one of the many Avenida kiosks for more Douro Valley wine. (One can drink Port in Lisbon, but I did enough of that in Porto to last a lifetime.)
All this quaffing had me worried about falling asleep at a late movie, but luckily the Cinemateca's Hitchcock-inspired 39 Steps restaurant offered plenty of strong coffee. The restaurant opens up to a balcony, another of Lisbon's marvelous hidden rooftops. On the same floor is a terrific, small bookshop loaded with everything from photo-rich coffee table tomes to slim volumes of esoteric film theory. The building itself dates back to 1897 when it was home of a wealthy lawyer whose heirs sold the property to the government in 1979. The following year the Cinemateca moved in, but complications arose due to a fire caused by old nitrate film stocks.
The current design dates to 2002 and it is a splendid mix of new and old, with a typical Lisbon Manueline street lamp out front, a 1960s neon sign, and a mix of tiles and wood floors inside. The permanent exhibit features moviemaking equipment (man, those old cameras were huge) and great old posters. A central atrium features an enormous column of film cans, which I hope are well-glued together unless someone is looking to recreate Chaplin-esque mayhem.
Ticket prices are subsidized (Europe!) so my wife and I were able to see Stanley Kubrick's “Barry Lyndon” for 9 euros total. The programming is mostly repertory, sometimes categorized by director or theme. Rarely will you catch anything dubbed, but if the film isn't in English there will only be Portuguese subtitles, so choose wisely.