THE RETURN OF SPAIN AND LATIN AMERICA, THE MAINTENANCE OF THE INCREASINGLY REMARKABLE CINEMA OF THE EASTERN REGION AND THE COLD OF NORWAY
The 46th edition of Fantasporto – Porto International Film Festival will be dominated by European cinema, with a strong Spanish presence showcasing the brilliance of its filmmakers, many of whom are multi-award winners and, from the East, particularly the People's Republic of China and Japan, where master as Eiji Uchida (who will be visiting us) stands out with his latest film "The Specials". Also noteworthy is the novelty at Fantas, and we believe in Portugal, of Norwegian cinema, an initiative primarily involving the Norwegian Film Fund and all under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Alliance, an initiative of the Shanghai Film Festival, of which Fantas is a founding member as a guest of the Chinese government. Invited guests so far include the directors of selected films from the United States, Australia, the People's Republic of China, South Africa, and some from more "hidden" countries around the world have also confirmed their presence in Porto. Once again, a Portuguese feature film is part of
the official section.
In 2026, we celebrate 46 years of a festival that has grown, especially internationally, and which, here in Portugal, still manages to hold on to the crest of a strange and malignant wave that has practically taken everything from Porto and the North to Lisbon. This has been the case for about 30 years with most of the large industry, with the banks, medium-sized groups, service companies and, obviously, the political image of our mayors. The North has thus been gradually transforming itself into a landscape that, despite everything, is weakly struggling to value the good and high-quality work that has been done here and much remains to be done.
And here is the final LINEUP for the 46th edition of Fantasporto – Porto International Film Festival.
FANTASPORTO 2026 FINAL LINE-UP
46th Porto International Film Festival
Filme Abertura Oficial:
Suzuki=Bakudan- Akira Naguai- 136’ (Jap)
Filme Encerramento:
After Us, The Flood- Arto Halonen- 98’ (Fin)
SELECÇÃO OFICIAL
(FILMES INÉDITOS E/OU EM ANTESTREIA)
S.O. CINEMA FANTÁSTICO
(Competição)
Longas-Metragens / Features
The Curse- Kenichi Ugana, 95’ (Jap)
The Dollmaker (Encantador) – José Maria Cicala- 100’ (Argentina)
Hellbilly Hollow- Kevin Wayne- 85’ (EUA)
Scared to Death- Paul Boyd- 98’ (EUA)
Lenore- David Ward- 88’ (Australia)
IAI –Zenzo Sakai- 91’ (Jap)
Journey to no End- Chen Xian- 94’ (China)
Futuro, Futuro – Davi Pretto- 86’ (Brasil)
Crushed- Simon Rumley- 102’ (Reino Unido)
Luger- Bruno Martín- 96’ (Esp)
Skeleton Girls, a Kidnapped Society- Richard Eames- 107’ (Australia)
Under Your Feet / Bajo Tus Piés – Cristian Bernard- 95’ (Esp)
After Us, The Flood- Arto Halonen- 98’ (Fin)
The Whisper/ El Sussurro- Gustavo Hernández Ibáñez- 101’ (Uruguai/ Arg)
Gaua- Paul Urkijo Alijo- 92’ (Esp)
Don’t Leave the Kids Alone /No Dejes los Niños Solos- Emilio Portes -98’ (Mex)
-
S.O. CURTAS-METRAGENS CINEMA FANTÁSTICO / SHORTS
National Pension- Ho-Seung Son – 5’50’’ (Coreia do Sul)
Primus, the Robot- Max Delagrave- 19’ 44’’ (Fra)
Boiling Point- Ying Ze- 13’27’’ (China)
Shitfly – Julian Park 15’ (EUA)
Poeira - Mateus Lana - 20’17’’ (Brasil)
The Wanderer- Gwai Lou- 15’30’’ (Malásia)
Eumbok Restaurant MSG- Son Ho-Seung- 4’29’’ (Coreia do Sul)
In- Van Poynton – 3’ (Irl)
Mucura – Fabiano Barros- 16’ (Brasil)
Big Bang- Han Zhu- 19’26 (China)
Watch Me Burn- Sofia Spotti- 20’ (Reino Unido)
Le Cocon- Aurélien Coquery, Léa Kermanach, Soline Maugin, Abel Tixador, Jean
Baounon, Romane Selter-Fiette- 7’ 12’’ (Fra)
Kamarade- Garance Valere, Valentin Okoundou, Hubert Chauvaux, Alice Bourget,
Louise Laurent, Fleuriane Le Guillou- 8’ 18’’ (Fra)
Payback- Wu Jian- 8’ (China)
A Good Death- Kaz PS- 11’13’’ (EUA)
10 Seconds – Chin Hao Shen- 8’05’’ (Taiwan)
Necrosectos- Javier Lozano- 9’53’ (Esp)
Poor Marciano- Alex Rey- 7’ 27’’ (Esp)
Kill Ada – Kunyu Cai -13’35’’ (China)
Teetan- Hadi Rezayati Charan- 15’ (Irão)
Magai-Gami- Norihiro Niwatsukino- 9’ (Jap)
Void/Vacio- Javier Cano Larumbe- 13’ (Esp)
Señuelo – Martha F. Ayerbe – 16,25 ́ ́(Esp)
S.O. SEMANA DOS REALIZADORES
(Longas-metragens / Competição)
Cativos- Luís Alves- 92’ (Port)
Suzuki=Bakudan- Akira Naguai- 136’ (Jap)
Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts- Wang Tong/Tony Wang- 120’ (China)
Tigkiliwi - Lopsided - Tara IIllenberger- 95’ (Filipinas)
The Specials- Eiji Uchida- 111’ (Jap)
Sisa- Jun Robles Lana- 118’ (Filipinas)
Papa Buka- Dr Biju Damodaran- 104’ (Papua/Nova Guiné/India)
#Iwilltellyouthetruth- Keisuke Toyoshima- 118’ (Japan)
Don’t Call me Mama- Nina Knag -106’ (Noruega)
Endless Land- Vassilis Mazomenos -80’- (Grécia)
The Trek- Meekaaeel Adam- 103’ (Africa do Sul)
S.O. PANORAMA
(Fora de Competição / Out of Competition)
Les Sentinelles- Thierry Poiraud, Edouard Salier- 100’ (Fra)- P&P TV episódio 1 e
2
Cold Water- Lee Haven Jones -100’ (Reino Unido) P&P TV– episódios 1 e 2
Post Truth - Alkan Avcioglu 90 ́(Turquia)
Maldito Amor – Ladislau Ramalho 87 ́ (Angola)
The Last Assassins - James Anthony Usas - 84’ (EUA)
The Haven (Jastimari)- Riccardo Cannella- 90’ (Ita)
Sword of Vengeance – Nemanja Ceranic – 128’ (Sérvia)
Retratos del Apocalipsis- Nicanor Loreti, Fabian Forte, Luca Castello- 75’
(Argentina)
S.O. ORIENT EXPRESS
Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts- Wang Tong- 120’ (China)
The Curse- Kenichi Ugana, 95’ (Jap)
#Iwilltellyouthetruth- Keisuke Toyoshima- 118’ (Japan)
Papa Buka- Dr Biju Damodaran- 104’ (Papua/Nova Guiné/India)
Tigkiliwi - Lopsided - Tara IIllenberger- 95’ (Filipinas)
The Specials- Eiji Uchida - (Jap)
Sisa- Jun Robles Lana- 118’ (Filipinas)
Journey to no End- Chen Xian- 94’ (China)
IAI –Zenzo Sukai - 91’ (Jap)
Suzuki=Bakudan- Akira Naguai- 136’ (Jap)
S.O. PRÉMIO CINEMA PORTUGUÊS - MELHOR FILME 2026
(Competição) com e-mails
Longas-metragens
Paramnésia- Tiago “Ramon” Santas- 78’ (Port)
Cativos- Luís Alves- 92’ (Port) tb comp SR
Curtas-metragens
Estou Aqui- Ana Rita Martins- 11’ 57’’ (Port)
Manhã, na Montanha- Luís Miranda- 2’ 31’’ (Port)
Falling Forward, Slightly – Vasco Viana-10’ (Port/Din)
Dentro de Mim- Daniela Pereira Marques- 6’ 44’’ (Port)
Corça- Maria Lima- 4’ 46’’ (Port)
My Oddly Unexpected Bond- Carolina Baptista- 10’ 21’’ (Port/Ita)
Gota d’ Água- André Almeida Rodrigues- 6’53 (Port)
Apagão- Hugo Pinto- 8’ 05’’ (Port)
Audição 2022 -Nuno Tudela - 35' (Port)
Douro Stream – Pedro Gil Vasconcelos – 40’ (Port)
Fora de competição
Som da Alma – Luis Moya 21’ (Port)
PRÉMIO CINEMA PORTUGUÊS - MELHOR FILME (ESCOLAS DE CINEMA)
Competição
ESAP- ESCOLA SUPERIOR ARTÍSTICA DO PORTO
Caça’Dor- Rui B. Maia – 14’ 58’’ (Port)
ESCOLA ARTÍSTICA SOARES DO REIS
Restart- Matilde Carvalho - 9’26’’ (Port)
UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO PORTO
Cama de Lavado – Maria Lima- 7’ 14’’ (Port)
UBI- UNIVERSIDADE DA BEIRA INTERIOR
Limiar- Samuel Rendeiro- 13’ Port)
ESMAD
À Venda – Isabella Miranda – 11 ́ 09 ́ ́(Port)
UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO
Imagem Filtrada – Alix Bielefeld e Lara Mireny -8 ́36 ́ ́(Port)
UNIVERSIDADE LUSÓFONA DE LISBOA
Os Terríveis- João Antunes (Pika Leão) -15’ (Port)
RETROSPECTIVA FOCO CINEMA NORUEGUÊS
Em colaboração com o Norwegian Film Institute e Film Forbundet
Longas Metragens
Don’t Call me Mama- Nina Knag -106’ (Noruega)- tb Competição SR- 2025
My Uncle Jens- Brwa Vahabpour- 98’ (Nor)- 2025
Armand- Halfdan Ullmann Tondel- 118’ (Nor)- 2024
Loveable (Ekskling)- Lilja Ingolfsdottir- 101’ (Nor)- 2024
Thelma- Joachim Trier- 118’ (Nor)- 2017
Kitchen Stories – Bent Hamer 92 ́ (Nor) 2002
What will people Say – Iram Haq -107’ (Nor) 2017
Blind- Eskil Vogt- 96’ (Nor) 2014
RETROSPECTIVA CURTAS HORROR GALEGAS
ANTESTREIAS
Em colaboração com o Festival Curtas do Imaxinario
e em Antestreia em Portugal
Xogo de Nenos – Miguel R. Berride-18’13’’ (Espanha) 2023- horror
Mare- Guille Vázquez -7’ 48’’ (Espanha) 2020 - horror, drama
Teratoma- Jano Pitta- 9’1’’ (Espanha) 2021- horror
Sombra do Mar- Sergio Pereda- 15’21’’ (Espanha) 2021-horror
In Half – Jorge Morais- 24’57’’ (Espanha) 2024 – Fantástico
Compañeros – Fernando Tato- 19’12’’ (Espanha) 2022- horror
A Queda de Nós – Miguel G. Abad -16’49’’
FESTIVALS, AN ALTERNATIVE
A few years ago, there was a radical change in the management of free time. Parents,
who used the movie theater as an escape from their daily lives, now, with so much
available, have also started staying at home. More convenient, but certainly not very
rewarding. In this scenario, only film lovers, when they want to discover a cinema
different from that offered by this commercial market, attend film festivals, which
have increased abruptly in number both in Portugal and throughout the world. This
proliferation of film events has also allowed film sales agents worldwide to create
sectors – now the most profitable – for renting films to festivals. This situation does
not occur with the most important events, given the benefits they bring, but with all
the others, facilitating the aforementioned increase in these events and allowing them
to be produced by any "event producer," as they are now called, not by cinephiles, but
by mere money-making agents who, eventually, may have nothing to do with the film
industry.
The major festivals, usually supported by the State and which garner international
prestige, what audiences do they have? People who want to see "other" cinema,
basically cinephiles who have access to the sessions, now in most cases, for free, a way
to keep the theaters full, or almost full.
AND FANTASPORTO
All this to get to Fantasporto, a successful event with 46 years of history, Medal of
Cultural Merit from the Portuguese Government, Gold Medal of Porto and Gaia,
among many other distinctions in Portugal and abroad, and always growing in its
international prestige. It is important to say that this prestige, earned by the quality of
its programming, requires that it be made known to younger generations, attracting
them to movie theaters, just as it always happened with their parents. Promotional
work on social networks, in the media, and in direct advertising are important assets
for this to happen. There needs to be enough foreign guests.
There are about 200 per year, and at least 7 Oscar-winning directors and actors have
already passed through here with their first films. This was one of the aspects that
"Variety," present again at the last edition of the event, highlighted in its articles.
Talking about films and the programming. Indeed, the great advantage of a festival like
Fantasporto is its coherence and modernity. Always attractive, in our view, the
programming defends the quality and diversity of the cinema presented at the festival.
But we wanted more. Will we achieve it? The main problem to overcome is that we
are in the so-called "province" and not in the capital where everything happens or is
invented, and there is no shortage of support for it.
2026, 3 MORE TO GO UNTIL WE CELEBRATE 50 YEARS...