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Lights, Camera, MOTELX: The Complete Lineup for our 19th Edition
September in Lisbon, MOTELX at São Jorge. Dare to discover the new features of the Festival that promises to shake a country afraid of horror.
Pedro Pascal bathed in nostalgia, Peter Dinklage in full radioactive avenger mode, Rosamund Pike in a frantic race against time, and Selton Mello grappling with the apocalypse — these are some of the protagonists of the new edition of MOTELX, which, from September 9 to 15, once again takes over every nook and cranny of Cinema São Jorge.
Among the novelties that now make up the most devilish film program in the country, we begin with “Freaky Tales”, by the duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring a stellar cast — Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Angus Cloud, among others — this horror anthology catapults us back into the innocence and obscurity of the 1980s.
In the Special Screening 2TOXIC, we get a double dose of grindhouse subversion. “The Toxic Avenger” by Macon Blair, a new foray into the franchise created by Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment, featuring a veritable and dazzling array of stars — Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, Taylour Paige — will be screened alongside the original from 1984, in a true feast of guts and heart.
We welcome “The Run”, by Paul Raschid — an interactive film in which the audience, armed with glowsticks, will determine the fate of an influencer confronted by a group of ruthless killers.
Eight films will compete for the Méliès d'Argent Award – Best European Feature. From Babak Anvari (BAFTA winner with “Under the Shadow”), “Hallow Road” is a minimalist psychological thriller, largely confined to the interior of a car and shot in real time, where two parents (Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys) try to help their daughter after she runs over a stranger in the forest. “Bulk”, the new title from Ben Wheatley (“Kill List”), is a sci-fi vertigo of interdimensional narrative and noir atmosphere, in which a scientist vanishes without a trace. In “The Ice Tower" (Lucile Hadžihalilović), Marion Cotillard plays the enigmatic Ice Queen in a film within a film. From Aleksandar Radivojević — one of the screenwriters of the infamous “A Serbian Film” — comes “Karmadonna”, which follows a pregnant woman after a fateful phone call. Jorge Cramez presents the world premiere of “Shadows”, about a city couple whose peace in the countryside is disrupted by the nocturnal visit of a mysterious animal. Also in competition: “Her Will Be Done” (Julia Kowalski), exploring an ancestral curse; “Buzzheart” (Dennis Iliadis), dissecting love in a laboratory setting; and “Mother’s Baby” (Johanna Moder), a chilling dive into the anxieties of motherhood.
On the night of September 13, there will be a Japanese triple feature: “Chime”, by master Kiyoshi Kurosawa, leading us into the epicenter of deepest unrest; “New Group”, by Yuta Shimotsu, in which terror takes on an anti-system character; and “Hotspring Sharkattack”, by Morihito Inoue, where a plague of killer sharks threatens the coastal hot springs of Atsumi.
The Festival hasn’t started yet, but the spirit of MOTELX will already be felt in Jardins do Bombarda with our Warm-Up. On September 4, the talk “Lobotomy, My Love” takes place, marking 70 years since the death of Egas Moniz, inventor of a procedure cinema has used to its most sadistic and beautiful delight — with clinical psychologist Ana Neves and filmmaker Edgar Pêra. After the talk, it’s time for open-air cinema with “Misery”, Stephen King’s classic adaptation, featuring standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates (who would win the Oscar for Best Actress). On September 5, the Warm-Up rises up to dance in a “Dark Sunset”, a moment of communion with rock and twilight, to the sounds of sets by A Boy Named Sue and Noise Dolls Club.
Also returning is the MOTELX Lab, dedicated to Portugal’s genre film industry, bringing together exhibitors, distributors, technical and artistic crews, press, and funders for a series of encounters for those who want to think about horror cinema. Under the motto “A Country Afraid of Horror”, it will take place in several spaces around the city, including the MOTELX Lounge, Cinema São Jorge, and the Linha de Sombra Bookstore at Cinemateca Portuguesa.
And because MOTELX also knows how to host, it’s worth mentioning some of the guests who will be in Lisbon. In addition to Guest of Honor Gale Anne Hurd, other creators of horror will be present. First and foremost, Heidi Honeycutt (journalist, programmer, and historian who in 2024 presented her book “I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History Of Women Directing Horror Movies” at MOTELX) will moderate Gale Anne Hurd’s Masterclass. Director Marco Dutra and producer Rodrigo Teixeira (“Enterre Seus Mortos”) arrive from Brazil. Austrian Norbert Pfaffenbichler brings his “2551” trilogy to SectionX. British filmmaker Ben Wheatley comes along with his brand-new “Bulk”. “Her Will Be Done” is the new film by French director Julia Kowalski, who will also attend MOTELX, as will Dennis Iliadis, Greek-born director and author of the dazzling “Buzzheart”.
Among the novelties that now make up the most devilish film program in the country, we begin with “Freaky Tales”, by the duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring a stellar cast — Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Angus Cloud, among others — this horror anthology catapults us back into the innocence and obscurity of the 1980s.
In the Special Screening 2TOXIC, we get a double dose of grindhouse subversion. “The Toxic Avenger” by Macon Blair, a new foray into the franchise created by Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment, featuring a veritable and dazzling array of stars — Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, Taylour Paige — will be screened alongside the original from 1984, in a true feast of guts and heart.
We welcome “The Run”, by Paul Raschid — an interactive film in which the audience, armed with glowsticks, will determine the fate of an influencer confronted by a group of ruthless killers.
Eight films will compete for the Méliès d'Argent Award – Best European Feature. From Babak Anvari (BAFTA winner with “Under the Shadow”), “Hallow Road” is a minimalist psychological thriller, largely confined to the interior of a car and shot in real time, where two parents (Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys) try to help their daughter after she runs over a stranger in the forest. “Bulk”, the new title from Ben Wheatley (“Kill List”), is a sci-fi vertigo of interdimensional narrative and noir atmosphere, in which a scientist vanishes without a trace. In “The Ice Tower" (Lucile Hadžihalilović), Marion Cotillard plays the enigmatic Ice Queen in a film within a film. From Aleksandar Radivojević — one of the screenwriters of the infamous “A Serbian Film” — comes “Karmadonna”, which follows a pregnant woman after a fateful phone call. Jorge Cramez presents the world premiere of “Shadows”, about a city couple whose peace in the countryside is disrupted by the nocturnal visit of a mysterious animal. Also in competition: “Her Will Be Done” (Julia Kowalski), exploring an ancestral curse; “Buzzheart” (Dennis Iliadis), dissecting love in a laboratory setting; and “Mother’s Baby” (Johanna Moder), a chilling dive into the anxieties of motherhood.
On the night of September 13, there will be a Japanese triple feature: “Chime”, by master Kiyoshi Kurosawa, leading us into the epicenter of deepest unrest; “New Group”, by Yuta Shimotsu, in which terror takes on an anti-system character; and “Hotspring Sharkattack”, by Morihito Inoue, where a plague of killer sharks threatens the coastal hot springs of Atsumi.
The Festival hasn’t started yet, but the spirit of MOTELX will already be felt in Jardins do Bombarda with our Warm-Up. On September 4, the talk “Lobotomy, My Love” takes place, marking 70 years since the death of Egas Moniz, inventor of a procedure cinema has used to its most sadistic and beautiful delight — with clinical psychologist Ana Neves and filmmaker Edgar Pêra. After the talk, it’s time for open-air cinema with “Misery”, Stephen King’s classic adaptation, featuring standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates (who would win the Oscar for Best Actress). On September 5, the Warm-Up rises up to dance in a “Dark Sunset”, a moment of communion with rock and twilight, to the sounds of sets by A Boy Named Sue and Noise Dolls Club.
Also returning is the MOTELX Lab, dedicated to Portugal’s genre film industry, bringing together exhibitors, distributors, technical and artistic crews, press, and funders for a series of encounters for those who want to think about horror cinema. Under the motto “A Country Afraid of Horror”, it will take place in several spaces around the city, including the MOTELX Lounge, Cinema São Jorge, and the Linha de Sombra Bookstore at Cinemateca Portuguesa.
And because MOTELX also knows how to host, it’s worth mentioning some of the guests who will be in Lisbon. In addition to Guest of Honor Gale Anne Hurd, other creators of horror will be present. First and foremost, Heidi Honeycutt (journalist, programmer, and historian who in 2024 presented her book “I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History Of Women Directing Horror Movies” at MOTELX) will moderate Gale Anne Hurd’s Masterclass. Director Marco Dutra and producer Rodrigo Teixeira (“Enterre Seus Mortos”) arrive from Brazil. Austrian Norbert Pfaffenbichler brings his “2551” trilogy to SectionX. British filmmaker Ben Wheatley comes along with his brand-new “Bulk”. “Her Will Be Done” is the new film by French director Julia Kowalski, who will also attend MOTELX, as will Dennis Iliadis, Greek-born director and author of the dazzling “Buzzheart”.