Ara | Susana Ramalho Marques | 13' | PRT
Faith can take many forms. On a very special weekend in May 2017, the city of Fátima in Portugal became the epicenter of various forms of belief. Portuguese director Susana Ramalho delivers a short film carefully located in time and space, filmed during a period of emotion and frenzy: the expected visit of Pope Francisco and the explosive Portuguese fourth football championship win by Benfica, both on the same weekend.
Em Junho | Henrique Brazão | 16' | PRT
A seventeen-year-old girl starts her day riding a bus with her father from the precipitous, bucolic area of Funchal, where they live by the sea. Her entire routine is dictated by a slow pace: the monotonous boredom of classes, the endless afternoons the teenager spends with her friend, the repetitive movements of the ocean waves against the rocks. Em Junho unpicks how monotonous and uncomfortable teenage life can be, simultaneously existing under the constraints of age and the painful expanses of seemingly empty time.
A Mãe de Sangue | Vier Nev | 6' | PRT
In the last moments before childbirth, a mother realizes how similar her child's life will be to hers. A Mãe de Sangue is a work by Vier Nev, a multidisciplinary Portuguese artist. An animation whose hypnotic visual journey demonstrates that every image can have two simultaneous meanings. Each frame is minutely composed of an image with two possible interpretations which is responsible for a narrative that does not work in the conventional way. The short film is the result of a strange and psychedelic visual study on the limits of simultaneous narrative.
Banho Santo | Bruno Saraiva | 20' | PRT
When faced with the terrible fate awaiting his younger brother at the next 'Holy Bath Ritual', João finds a way to escape and cut ties with the cult his family belongs to. Although haunted by a great secret and a crisis of faith, João has only one goal: to save the life of the boy and protect him from the cold reality of the world in which they live. The short somber film by Portuguese directors Bruno Saraiva and Carolina Ferreira, students of Cinema, Video and Multimedia Communication at Universidade Lusófona, also won the 2020 Aipcinema award for best cinematography.
When the light goes out | Tânia Prates | 5' | PRT
When The Light Goes Out offers a glimpse into family, childhood and social class in mid 20th century Portugal as well as reflecting on the role of photography in preserving history. Photographs from the Fotocine Fund that belong to the collection of the Municipal Museum of Coruche form the subject of this experimental video essay. Narrated sensitively by the Portuguese director Tânia Sofia Oliveira Prates, who works as a communication officer at the Municipality of Coruche, this film is a tender conversation with the viewer.
Príncipe | João Monteiro | 11' | PRT
Príncipe represents the voices of a forgotten generation. It is also the portrait of a city on the verge of international rehabilitation – of the life, feelings of attachment and memories of its young inhabitants. In this Portuguese short film, written and directed by João Monteiro, we see a collection of the longings, loves and fears of the protagonist, João, who walks around with a fervent desire to leave. A melancholic film, produced from a collection of moments full of both candor and doubt.
Os Monstros Só Saem à Noite | João Pedro Ferreira | 15' | PRT
The film explores the close relationship of an unemployed young adult and his grandfather. While trying to find a job, Guilherme will need the help of Inês, his childhood friend and love interest, to take care of Jorge. Jorge's health, however, is worsening, and with no other alternatives, the young man finds himself in a bind. He will need to get in touch with a dangerous individual, whom he thought he had left behind. Os Monstros Só Saem à Noite is the academic final project of the Portuguese director João Pedro Ferreira, graduating in Cinema at the University of Beira Interior.