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First Wave - MOTELX 2025: first news of the upcoming edition
The 19th edition of MOTELX is coming. From September 9 to 15, 2025, Cinema São Jorge will once again host the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival, which now announces its first new features.
MOTELX is pleased to announce the first news of the program for its upcoming 19th edition, taking place from September 9 to 15, 2025, at Cinema São Jorge.
There are three major premieres in Portugal already confirmed. “Bury Your Dead”, by Marco Dutra, walking between the western and cosmic horror, brings us the story of a collector of dead animals on the roads, Edgar Wilson, who embarks on a roadtrip through the ruins of a civilization packed with the melody of the apocalypse. The director of "Good Manners" returns with an adaptation of the book written by Ana Paula Maia, starring Selton Mello and Marjorie Estiano.
The South Korean animation “Pig That Survived Foot-And-Mouth Disease” also premieres, in which a pig seeks to become human after surviving foot-and-mouth disease, armed only with its survival instinct and in an attempt to evade its fate; while Choi Jeong-Seok leaves the army after murdering his superior, taking refuge in nature where he comes across Yoo Ji-Eun, a student who chose his mountains as a place to commit suicide. South Korean Hur Bum-wook writes and directs this unusual fable that is evocative of the classic "Watership Down", an eco-horror film that delves into the sinister weaknesses of a way of life that has long since become unsustainable.
The third film of this first wave is “The Ice Tower”, by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who returns with Marion Cotillard to the theme of youthful innocence assaulted by adult life. We follow Jeanne, a 16-year-old orphan who runs away from her foster home and ends up sleeping in a studio where, during the day, a film adaptation of “The Snow Queen” is being filmed, played by Cristina (Cotillard), who impresses the teenager to the point of obsession and ends up revealing the worst intentions...
Still on the big screen, the 19th edition proclaims that the "Lost Room" section, dedicated, by definition, to the rediscovery of the lost roots of Portuguese Horror Cinema, will be innovated this year with a special movie cycle entitled "The Witches' Ball", dedicated to the figure of the sorceress, the witch woman, this character denigrated for the challenge to the patriarchy and the status quo that her absolute claim to power and independence meant. We don't believe in them, but they do exist!
And finally, we announce that this year MOTELX is launching an initiative dedicated exclusively to audiovisual content designed for digital format. Promoted by Thumb Media, on September 10th and 11th, the first edition of the Digital Film Festival emerges as a space for exchange and innovation between the different producers of audiovisual content. “The goal of the Festival is to create conditions for the emergence of opportunities outside the norm, strengthening the creative community in its search for creativity on different platforms. We want to bring content producers from different areas of audiovisual to the Festival so that, together, we can chart a path that allows us to push the limits of digital content.” reinforces Miguel Sabino, founder of Thumb Media. The integration of this first edition of the Digital Film Festival reaffirms MOTELX's commitment to promoting and encouraging, with the possibilities of digital technology, independent film production.
More news will be revealed soon!
There are three major premieres in Portugal already confirmed. “Bury Your Dead”, by Marco Dutra, walking between the western and cosmic horror, brings us the story of a collector of dead animals on the roads, Edgar Wilson, who embarks on a roadtrip through the ruins of a civilization packed with the melody of the apocalypse. The director of "Good Manners" returns with an adaptation of the book written by Ana Paula Maia, starring Selton Mello and Marjorie Estiano.
The South Korean animation “Pig That Survived Foot-And-Mouth Disease” also premieres, in which a pig seeks to become human after surviving foot-and-mouth disease, armed only with its survival instinct and in an attempt to evade its fate; while Choi Jeong-Seok leaves the army after murdering his superior, taking refuge in nature where he comes across Yoo Ji-Eun, a student who chose his mountains as a place to commit suicide. South Korean Hur Bum-wook writes and directs this unusual fable that is evocative of the classic "Watership Down", an eco-horror film that delves into the sinister weaknesses of a way of life that has long since become unsustainable.
The third film of this first wave is “The Ice Tower”, by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who returns with Marion Cotillard to the theme of youthful innocence assaulted by adult life. We follow Jeanne, a 16-year-old orphan who runs away from her foster home and ends up sleeping in a studio where, during the day, a film adaptation of “The Snow Queen” is being filmed, played by Cristina (Cotillard), who impresses the teenager to the point of obsession and ends up revealing the worst intentions...
Still on the big screen, the 19th edition proclaims that the "Lost Room" section, dedicated, by definition, to the rediscovery of the lost roots of Portuguese Horror Cinema, will be innovated this year with a special movie cycle entitled "The Witches' Ball", dedicated to the figure of the sorceress, the witch woman, this character denigrated for the challenge to the patriarchy and the status quo that her absolute claim to power and independence meant. We don't believe in them, but they do exist!
And finally, we announce that this year MOTELX is launching an initiative dedicated exclusively to audiovisual content designed for digital format. Promoted by Thumb Media, on September 10th and 11th, the first edition of the Digital Film Festival emerges as a space for exchange and innovation between the different producers of audiovisual content. “The goal of the Festival is to create conditions for the emergence of opportunities outside the norm, strengthening the creative community in its search for creativity on different platforms. We want to bring content producers from different areas of audiovisual to the Festival so that, together, we can chart a path that allows us to push the limits of digital content.” reinforces Miguel Sabino, founder of Thumb Media. The integration of this first edition of the Digital Film Festival reaffirms MOTELX's commitment to promoting and encouraging, with the possibilities of digital technology, independent film production.
More news will be revealed soon!