In these strange times, it’s hard to think positively about the future. As Joe Strummer of The Clash once said, “The future is unwritten.” Guided by this idea, FEST 2025 seeks constructive, hopeful visions ahead. Our Be Kind Rewind section highlights Georgia’s rising film talent, showcasing a nation fighting for democracy and resisting Russian influence.
The National Grand Prix tackles pressing contemporary issues such as the housing crisis and gentrification, while the rest of the program explores struggles in Palestine, Iran, and Hungary, women’s liberation, and the generational challenges brought by AI and a chaotic virtual world. These films serve as a vital reminder that cinema’s true nature is political. It’s time to sit down and discover this year’s program.
This year, the National Grand Prix focuses on a series of vital issues for new generations. Alongside the housing crisis, themes such as immigration and reproductive rights are explored, marking a positive and hopeful direction for Portuguese cinema.
FEST will once again feature special sessions, including the opening and closing films. The opening film is the second feature by Palestinian director Scandar Copti, winner of the Best Screenplay Award at Venice. The film follows four interconnected characters navigating their unique realities, highlighting the complexities of gender, generation, and culture in an oppressive universe for the Arab community in Israel. Copti returns to Espinho, where he will also lead a masterclass and workshop.
To close the festival, Leonor Bettencourt Loureiro presents her bold and deeply unconventional first feature film. The story follows a successful international foreign music duo who choose Lisbon as their new home. What initially seems like another sign of Lisbon’s contemporary success soon reveals exploitative situations and dynamics, where gentrification and hierarchical relationships of the 21st century stand out as insurmountable challenges.
Our feature film competition (Golden Lynx) showcases several young men and women grappling with contemporary struggles for survival and meaning. These provocative and daring films represent some of the strongest and most vital new voices emerging recently, and are sure to cause a stir.
The international short film competition (Silver Lynx) is packed with unforgettable gems in 2025, featuring fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental films that spotlight some of cinema’s inevitable future stars.
Growing stronger every year, the NEXXT section once again compiles the best cinema produced by film schools worldwide, demonstrating the vitality of the global film school ecosystem in nurturing ambitious new artists.
Genres, styles, and formats that often struggle to break through the festival circuit find their spotlight in the Echoes section. Comedy, horror, romance, and AI-produced cinema take center stage across nine short film programs that promise to impress.
