Watching Star Wars has to be one of my most treasured childhood memories. I’m a 1978 kid, so I grew up alongside the characters in the saga.
That year, George Lucas had just released A New Hope (1977), and people were probably watching The Star Wars Holiday Special when it aired on November 17, while I was probably sleeping in my cradle (lucky me).
Portugal had been under a dictatorial regime for almost half a century, so in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution in April 1974, we were still living in the spirit of the rebellion.
Still, the Portuguese “rebels” had to wait months for the film’s premiere on December 6, 1977, in Lisbon at Cinema Monumental.
For weeks, the movie was only available to capital dwellers. Only in January did it move on to other parts of the country. So, Star Wars only premiered here in Porto in my birth year.
A life awakened by the Force
You can imagine how a kid who grew up in the rural northern part of Portugal immediately connected with Luke Skywalker’s ordeals growing up on a moisture farm in Tatooine.
