(In)dividual | Beatriz Bagulho | 5' | PRT
In Beatriz Bagulho’s animated short a young woman dreams she is inside her mind during a medical examination. Guided (or dragged) by her antagonist and proponent of her apprehensions, she explores the different sections of her personality. Among unusual spaces full of surreal metaphors, the girl is constantly shocked and unsettled when navigating her own subconscious. Faced with delirium, the protagonist is the only one who can find the way out of that dream labyrinth. Only when she stops questioning who she is, can she realize that the cause of her misfortune has always been right in front of her.
No, In my Room | Luís Azevedo | 9' | PRT
According to Jacques Rivette, every film is also a documentary about its own making. In this short film, the Portuguese director Luis Azevedo imagines what would happen if filmmakers took this concept literally. In essence, imagines the production of a film writing its own parallel story without control, right under the director's nose. The filmmaker ends the take, but the camera continues to roll, capturing what the viewer should not see and openly documenting whatever the official, directed narrative leaves out. There will always be someone to hold the camera, someone to edit the frames. So, what happens if the camera takes over?
Erva Daninha | Guilherme Daniel | 14' | PRT
A couple cultivating seemingly infertile ground come across a dark seed that grows and begins to exert a strange influence on their behaviour. The latest film by Guilherme Daniel is a stunning visual experience that imagines dark organic matter taking root, not in the earth, but within the spirit of a man and a woman. His sensitive and tender horror marks the continuation of a path that has turned the director into a major name when it comes to genre cinema. This distinctly Portuguese film that 'surprised, fascinated... and disturbed' judges at Lisbon's International Horror Film Festival MOTELX is not to be missed.
As Cartas da Minha Mãe | António Sequeira | 16' | PRT
In this surrealist tale, we follow Alice, who appears to be 14 years old. Despite physically resembling an ordinary girl of that age, enthusiastic, bubbly and bright... she is one of the daughters of death! Every day Alice receives a letter with a name and carries out the brutal task, but unwillingly. She believes her work brings only suffering and is intrigued by humans and the concept of love. Her perception of her own work is complicated even further when the girl begins to develop feelings for a suicidal teenager. Will she be able to confront her own mother?
Sofia | Filipe Ruffato, Gonçalo Viana | 10' | PRT
A woman takes her usual path back home, passing suspicious figures, staircases, pedestrian tunnels and dark streets. The journey, as always, can be daunting. According to directors Filipe Ruffato and Gonçalo Viana, true art is something that synthesizes the complexity of life. And for them, this is Sofia. In a single ten minute bold shot of artificial beauty, we witness fear, misunderstanding, prejudice, craving and desire, all of which arrive and depart as unspoken forces. This short film is an exercise in the precarious human condition.
Um Retrato de Borboletas | Henrique Prudêncio | 11' | PRT
For a few weeks now, Alexandra and Miguel have been meeting regularly and passionately. A little older than the girl, Miguel begins to develop specific and definite expectations for their future. She, in turn, is still trying to figure out exactly where the relationship is going to take her. This disconnect between the two catalyzes a difficult confrontation, one which will mark them both for life. A Portrait of Butterflies, by Portuguese director Henrique Prudêncio, proposes a reflection on women's freedom, transformative relationships, their consequences, and different modes of loving.
Alvorada | Carolina Neves | 13' | PRT
In Alvorada, the short film by Portuguese director Carolina Neves, we meet the sweet Vasco. Despite his peaceful nature, he has always been exposed to his brother's extremist ideals, expressed through the musical genre of National Socialist Black Metal. However, Vasco does not identify with the nature of this exclusionary movement and hides an essential aspect of his life and personality from his brother in order to avoid a fraternal rupture. However, in order for him to remain true to his beliefs, he will have to confront their ideological disagreement.
The Kiss | Miguel De | 9' | PRT
In The Kiss, the sexual act is reduced to one thing: a long kiss multiplied on several faces, several moans, and the sound as an assault on the senses. The paradox of the pure act, the kiss, in an impure pornographic film, reveals that the “problem” is not the kiss itself, but the context in which it occurs. The cinematic trend is to show more and more of the sexual act, albeit often simulated. In The Kiss, we don't see sex, even though we know it has happened. The shame of the body, an obstacle to divine aspiration, a fallible, impure vessel. Is this more obscene than the pornographic films that compose it?