SUNDAY 12 DECEMBER 15h30 (GMT)

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CURATED BY PORTO FEMME

Five shorts by directors from Portugal followed by Q&A.

HAPPY NEIGHBOURHOODS (Bairros Alegres)

Portugal, 2021, 3’14”

Director: Ana Isabel Soares

Inspired by three photographs, the director recounts a memory of her maternal grandparents.

Ana Isabel Soares

NHA MILA

Portugal, 2020, 18’28’’

Director: Denise Fernandes

After 14 years away from her homeland, Salomé is forced to return to Cape Verde to be with her dying brother. During her stopover at Lisbon airport, Águeda, a cleaner, recognizes Salomé as "Mila", her childhood friend. Águeda invites Salomé to spend the short layover at her place, with the other women in her family. Her stay there propels Salomé into a spiritual but painful journey permeated by the bond she has with her homeland.

Denise Fernandes was born in Lisbon in 1990 from Cape Verdean parents and she was raised in southern Switzerland. In 2011 she graduated in film directing and production at the International Conservatory of Audiovisual Sciences in Lugano (CISA). In the same year, her diploma short film Una Notte debuted at the 64th edition of the Locarno FILM Festival. From 2011 to 2013, she studies filmmaking at Cuba's International School of Film and TV (EICTV), where she directs Pan Sin Mermelada, which deserves the nomination of Upcoming Talent at the Solothurn Festival and Idyllium, awarded at the Winterthur International Festival. She is currently preparing her first feature film, Hanami, set in Cape Verde. Hanami was selected from 70 projects for the Solothurn Talent Lab 2016 and awarded the Best First Project by the Swiss Society of Authors (SSA).

SOUL (ALMA)

Portugal, 2020, 07’53’’ 

Director: Mónica Santos

In a poetic expedition, a wanderer searches for her soulmate only to find out [he/she] was always there close to her.  

Mónica Santos is a multifaceted author who has two Sophia awards, by the Portuguese Film Academy, and a nomination for César, by the French Academy, in her cinematographic journey. With a unique artistic vision, she creates universes that reinvent the real, giving them a poetic and surreal outlook that disturbs our perception. After finishing her master's degree at the Royal College of Art, as a Gulbenkian fellow, she worked with exponents of Portuguese cinema such as Manoel de Oliveira and José Fonseca e Costa as well as in several genres: cinema, advertising, documentary, and television fiction. The last two short films Amélia & Duarte and Between the Shadows (co-directed) connect animation techniques with real image aesthetics, distinguishing itself by the awards it received nationally and internationally. The culmination of this accomplishment was the chance to represent Portuguese cinema on the tour of the world cinema academies “Les Nuits en Or”. She finished her first solo short film Palma and is working, among other artistic projects, on the film O Casaco Rosa.

(DIS)QUIET [(IN)QUIETUDE]

Portugal, 2021, 15'23"

Director: Ana S. Carvalho

The inner struggle of a young teenager after her mother's death.

Ana S. Carvalho was born in 1998 in Vila Nova de Gaia, where she resides. She studied at Escola Artística Soares dos Reis do Porto, where she specialized in photography. She graduated in Cinema and Audiovisual at Escola Superior Artística do Porto (ESAP), where she made her first short film (In)quietude, as a final project. During her studies, she was invited to participate in several group exhibitions where she exhibited photographic and videographic work (A Note to Yourself, 2018). She recently won the Best Director Award in the Take One Competition! 29th Festival Curtas Vila do Conde, with her first short film (In)quietude.

DAWN (ALVORADA)

Portugal, 2020, 11’38’’

Director: Carolina Neves

Vasco has been exposed to his brother's extremism, largely through the latter’s love of National Socialist Black Metal. He despises his brother’s views, hiding an essential part of his life, to avoid a fraternal break up, while trying to walk the tightrope of pride and self-acceptance.

Carolina Neves was born on the 2nd of January, 1995 in Porto, where she currently lives. In 2013, she completed the Audiovisual Communication course at Escola Artística de Soares dos Reis, specialising in Photography. During this period, she volunteered at Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa - Delegation of Gaia and covered its activities and events. In 2016, Carolina graduated from Escola Superior de Artes e Design of Matosinhos in Communication Design. Simultaneously, she worked as a photojournalist for webmagazines, covering events such as concerts and music festivals. After working as a graphic designer for the company O Estúdio, she continued her studies in 2017, enrolling in the Master's Degree in Sound and Image from Universidade Católica Portuguesa, specialising in Cinema and Audiovisual. As a final Master’s project, she wrote, directed and edited the short film Alvorada.