O 22nd Monstra intends to serve as a bridge between the past and present of Portuguese animation cinema, by recalling the film “The nightmare of António Maria” (1923), by Joaquim Guerreiro, and showing several recent award-winning productions, including “Ice Merchants “, by João Gonzalez, nominated for the Oscars.
The festival will take place between today and March 26 at Cinema São Jorge, but also at Cinemateca Portuguesa, Cinemateca Júnior, Museu do Oriente and Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, offering more than 400 films and four exhibitions.
The opening will be at the National Society of Fine Arts, with the inauguration of an exhibition by the German artist and director Raimund Krumme.
Among the feature films in official competition are “Nayola”, by José Miguel Ribeiro, – which will premiere on the commercial circuit on April 13th -, “Os Demônios do meuvó”, by Nuno Beato, and “Forbidden to dogs and Italianos”, by French Alain Ughetto, with Portuguese co-production by Occidental Filmes.
In addition to the presence of “Ice Merchants”, in the short film competition, Monstra’s management highlighted the inclusion of another Oscar candidate film, “The Flying Sailor”, by Canadians Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, or even “Bird in the Peninsula”, by Atsushi Wada (Japan).
Another film that was nominated for an Oscar will also be on the program: “My Year of Dicks”, by Sara Gunnarsdóttir.
Among the short films candidates for the SPA/Vasco Granja award are “O Casaco Rosa”, by Mónica Santos, “Garrano”, by David Doutel and Vasco Sá, and “Ice Merchants”, by João Gonzalez, listed the organization.
Japan, which almost always has a prominent place in Monstra, will be the country honored in this edition, due to the 480 years of friendship with Portugal.
The program dedicated to Japan will count, for example, with the presence of the director and designer Koji Yamamura, who will have an exhibition of original drawings of his films at the Museum of the Orient, ‘anime’ and the musical feature film “Inu-Oh”, by Masaaki Yuasa, shown in 2021 at the Venice festival.
Films from the Ghibli studios will not be forgotten, namely “The Red Turtle”, in a co-production with French studios and directed by the Dutchman Michael Dudok de Wit, who will be in Lisbon for the first time.
The entire schedule is at monstrafestival.com.
Also Read: Festival Monstra celebrates the past and present of Portuguese animation cinema
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