Discovering a New Form in Film

Cur­tas Vila do Condo Inter­na­tional Film Festival

The 18th Cur­tas Vila do Conde – Inter­na­tional Film Fes­ti­val presents a pro­gram that once again will turn Vila do Conde, a Por­tuguese coastal town north of Oporto, into the epi­cen­ter of film and audio­vi­sual art. The fes­ti­val, which takes place from July 3 to July 11, will present a range of events that include film ses­sions, per­for­mances, exhi­bi­tions, work­shops, and conferences.

The Inter­na­tional Com­pe­ti­tion brings together a wide range of gen­res and expres­sions offer­ing the festival’s devoted audi­ence a selec­tion of fic­tion, ani­ma­tion, and doc­u­men­taries that always stand out for their qual­ity and inno­v­a­tive approaches. The Por­tuguese Com­pe­ti­tion, which fol­lows the same selec­tion cri­te­ria and includes mostly pre­mieres, has become the lead­ing show­case of Por­tuguese short films.

Take One! pro­vides an oppor­tu­nity for appren­tice film­mak­ers to present their short films in a com­pe­ti­tion ded­i­cated to works from Por­tuguese film schools. It is a com­ple­ment to the two main com­pe­ti­tions as are the Exper­i­men­tal and Music Video Com­pe­ti­tions. The com­pet­i­tive sec­tion also includes Curt­in­has, a seg­ment ded­i­cated to films for chil­dren up to 10 years of age.

As well as the com­pe­ti­tions, the fes­ti­val has a series of par­al­lel shows and events such as Da Curta à Longa (From Short to Fea­ture), with Por­tuguese pre­mieres of fea­tures from direc­tors who are in one way or another con­nected to the festival’s past; Take One! which in addi­tion to the com­pe­ti­tion also includes work­shops and mas­ter classes; Remixed, our most dar­ing sec­tion which high­lights the inter­ac­tion between dif­fer­ent artis­tic approaches to per­for­mance and visual arts, audio­vi­sual, and music cre­ation; In Focus, which hosts the festival’s ret­ro­spec­tives. The film­mak­ers in this pro­gram include Ken Jacobs and the Lar­rieu broth­ers. One of the major fea­tures in this year’s edi­tion of the fes­ti­val will be on explor­ing per­cep­tion issues.

Cur­tas Vila do Conde is also a hub where film pro­fes­sion­als can update their list of what’s new in short film either through the Short Film Mar­ket which makes avail­able all the festival’s entries, or through the social oppor­tu­ni­ties it pro­vides. The fact that Por­tuguese films have here a major oppor­tu­nity to reach a wider audi­ence is lever­aged by the festival’s efforts in pro­mot­ing dis­tri­b­u­tion and heighten media rela­tions and coverage.

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