Fantasporto

41st PORTO INTERNACIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | FANTASPORTO 2021 WILL BE HELD IN THE HISTORICAL CENTRE OF THE TOWN, NEAR THE DOURO RIVER FROM 26th APRIL TILL MAY 2nd

Fantasporto barely escaped the effects of the pandemic in 2020 which was starting at the time in Portugal, and was able to celebrate its 40thanniversary. Unfortunately, for the 2021 edition, the festival had to be postponed, unable to start on the scheduled dates due to the pandemic and the long period of lockdown that followed, with all theatres and cinemas closed to the public.  Fantasporto was forced to adapt. And it did, exceptionally, with new dates and a new theatre, offering again the city of Oporto the opportunity to have the best of the best of the cinema of today.

We are very proud to announce that the 41st Fantasporto will be held from April 26th till May 2nd,  not at the Rivoli Theatre as usual, but in the iconic market building in iron and glass built in the 1880s, now totally modernized and hosting a cultural centre, called Hard Club.

THE PROGRAM

The highlights of Fantasporto 2021 are divided throughout the competitions, after a laborious film selection made from 59 applying countries. The final line-up has representatives from 37 countries.

FANTASCLASSICS

The Opening Night,  on the 26th April, brings the absolute classic “Death in Venice” by celebrated master Luchino Visconti, celebrating its 50thanniversary and based on the novel by the same name of German writer Thomas Mann with Gustav Mahler’s music  offering the nostalgia of the final days of a man in an idyllic seaside resort, enchanted by the beauty of a young boy. Visconti also has another of his masterpieces, the 3 hour long “The Leopard”, in the program. Burt Lancaster in a sumptuous masterpiece about the end of an era of values and dignity. New re-mastered copies show them in all their glory, as these films were originally created. Other classics wait the audience such as the cult film “Fight Club”, with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in the leading roles, directed by David Fincher, a past winner of Fantasporto 1996 with his first feature, “Seven”.

FANTASY COMPETITION

Recent films show the uncertainty of our times through the great films Fantasporto has selected for this competition.

From Hungary comes the long awaited “Post-Mortem”, by Péter Bergendy, about a bizarre tradition in the end of the 19th century, the photography of the diseased with their loved ones, and set in a village affected by a plague. A fabulous production filled with high quality special effects, all the thrills of traditional horror and a wink at the soviet classic “Viyi”.  Other most recent films are coming to Fantasporto 2021. Brasilian horror feature, “The Cemitery of the Lost Souls” by Rodrigo Aragão, reminds us of the master Mojica Marins, “Ten to Midnight” is about a deadly night at a radio station. Not less impressive, but in a totally different tone, is “Marionette” by Elbert van Strien  who won the Best Film Award in Fantasporto 2011 with “Two Staring Eyes” and returns to Fantasporto with his second feature. This highly sophisticated story set in Scotland, is about a woman psychiatrist and her intriguing and very disturbing boy patient. Also the futuristic “The Trouble of Being Born” and “Tin Can” contemplate new approaches to our lives in the future. The highly awaited “The Funeral Home”, is a very original tale of spirits in unrest that comes from Argentina, a country whose cinema Fantasporto has already celebrated in the past.

The crazy manga style of the Japanese “Get the Hell Out” or the admirable plot in the “Suicide Forest Village” show the vitality of the cinema from Japan, winner of Fantasporto 2020 with “Ghostmaster”.  “The Reckoning” by Neil Marshall, about the witch hunt in Europe and how women were blamed for the Black Plague, in century’s old persecution.  “LX 2048” by Guy Moshe shows the scientific challenges as a front issue in our future.

The short films competition comes from around the world, with a special place for Spain, Australia, New Zealand, UK and France. An impressive selection, gathering different views of today’s world, all of them showing the powerful diversity of modern imagination in the cinema.

THE DIRECTORS’ WEEK COMPETITION

For those who like to feel the emotion of reality, from Hungary comes a great love story,  ”Preparations to be Together for an Unkown Period of Time”, by Lili Horvát,  showing the passionate scope of the best love stories in the cinema. In competition “Dinner in America” (USA) makes us follow an unlikely pair through redemption, the multi awarded “in the Quarry” shows the transformation of the trivial in the exceptional in the lives of a group of young adults. “Exquisite Corpse/ Cadáver Exquisito” by Argentinean Lucía Vassallo, brings an intense story of human relationships and hidden love and “Awauta” about a Geisha brought up in the traditions of elegance and care, returning to her home village, unaware of how values change, but also, how strong can be the ties with our own self.  Also screening a call of attention to the violence of war in an Islamic country, “Wildcat” is the story of an American woman who finds herself chained to a bed in a prison somewhere.

Life as it is, varied, problematic but real. 

PORTUGUESE CINEMA COMPETITION

Always a must in Fantasporto, Portuguese cinema brings features and shorts for the competition of the Best Film Award, starting with “Toponímia- As Memórias do Porto” by António Pinto, a journey through the old streets and the fast disappearing ways of working and living of the past. Also in competition “A Mulher sem Corpo” about what lies behind domestic violence, “Um Quadro do Pollock com Sangue” by Rui António, a film that has 24 writers building a plot of mystery and drama. Also, and very close to our hearts, the film celebrating the 40th anniversary of the festival, “Fantasporto 40 anos”, by Isabel Pina, of which a non-final version was already premiered in 2020.  The shorts competition for the Best Portuguese Film has many contributions such as “Experimental Horror Film # 1: Skull”  by Luís Miranda, “Aldeia do Diabo” by Bruno Acosta, Marcos Kontze, Melissa Gomes and Tom Freitas, “Guarda-fato” by Gonçalo Silva, “Stepless” by Nadège Jankowicz, “Área 51?52!” – by Alexandra Prates, Tânia Prates, “Exício” by Carolina Ferreira, “Detetive Volkov” by Jorge Sousa and Manuel Pedro Gil, and “Pequena Desordem Silenciosa” by Pedro Sena Nunes.

THE CLOSING FILM

The 41st edition of Fantasporto closes May 2nd with “No Man’s Land”, by Conor Allyn, a modern Western inspired by the real-life "no man's land" areas along the Texas-Mexico border. While out on a father-son border patrol, Jackson accidentally kills a Mexican immigrant boy. When Jackson's father tries taking the blame, Jackson flees south on horseback, becoming a gringo "illegal alien" in Mexico. Chased by Texas Rangers and Mexican federales, Jackson journeys across Mexico to seek forgiveness from the dead boy's father only to fall in love with the land he was taught to hate.With Frank Grillo, an action star (“Law & Order, “CSI”) and Andie MacDowell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”).

SPECIAL 40 YEARS OF FANTASPORTO

40TH ANNIVERSARY HARDCOVER BOOK EDITION (only portuguese edition)

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Fantasporto, which occurred in 2020, it was just released a 600 pages hard-cover book, “Fantasporto 40 Anos- Uma História de Cinema”, written by co-founder Beatriz Pacheco Pereira.

All programs, all films, all awards, all the stories, the illustrious guests, behind the scenes trivia, the trophies, the faces, the discoveries of now famous directors. That is, all you wanted to know about this world famous festival in a hard cover, 600 pages edition, published with the support of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian , Porto Town Hall and Cinema Novo CRL.

40 YEARS OF FANTASPORTO - THE FILM

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Fantasporto which occurred in 2020, director Isabel Pina recalls on film the past years of the festival. In an intensive approach to the history of the festival, its beginnings and how it achieved the  international relevance it has now,  Isabel Pina interviewed dozens of people around the world, from the founders Mário Dorminsky and Beatriz Pacheco Pereira, to the many directors and other professionals that built their careers beginning in Fantasporto.  Going now to its 41st edition, this film reminds us of its most outstanding moments. Important is also the participation in the film of the Irish director Cashell Horgan with several animation segments

WELCOME TO PORTO’S GREATEST CELEBRATION OF THE FILM WORLD!

WELCOME TO THE 41ST FANTASPORTO