News
MOTELX 2023: First-highlights
The European premiere of Gabriel Abrantes’ new film, Brandon Cronenberg as guest of honour, four new films from a female perspective, the multi-award winning "Strange Path" by Guto Parente, the 50th anniversary of "The Exorcist", the cross-over with Festival GUIÕES, YouTube microCURTAS MOTELX and a surprise screening with FilmTwist are some of the first highlights of this year's edition.
Yesterday, 19 July, in Screening Room 3 of Cinema São Jorge, the first highlights of MOTELX’s 17th edition were presented. As always, it is Lisbon's premium venue that becomes the epicenter of one of the greatest symbols of horror in Portugal, and in the world, which, this year, takes place from 12 to 18 September.
Between premieres, special guests, surprises and programming partnerships, the Festival will be, for seven days, in constant harmony with contemporaneity, but also with historical and fundamental moments in ensuring the present and contaminating the future that looks bright for genre cinema, national and international.
One of the first major confirmations is the European premiere of “Amelia’s Children” by Gabriel Abrantes, the new and much-awaited film directed by one of the greatest talents in Portuguese cinema. Other highlights are the incendiary “Property” by Brazilian Daniel Bandeira; the French “Vincent Must Die” by Stéphan Castang, and the winner of Cannes Critics' Week 2023, the Malaysian “Tiger Stripes”.
But there are more terrifying films being shown for the first time in Portugal and representing the Festival's official selection: Jennifer Reeder's second feature, presented in Berlin, “Perpetrator”; Jacqueline Castel's “My Animal,” a female take on a Canadian horror classic; the Australian “Run Rabbit Run” with “Succession” actress Sarah Snook; and the return of David Farrier, of “Tickled”, with the new documentary/thriller based on the investigation of a fait-diver in “Mister Organ”.
“Infinity Pool”, Brandon Cronenberg's most recent and resounding film, arrives exclusively at MOTELX, as does the man himself. The screening of this body horror meets science fiction, his third feature film, here in the director’s cut version, will be complemented by a retrospective of his work, including “Antiviral” and the unprecedented “Possessor”. With a very strong work of his own, the son of David Cronenberg proves that he deserves to be highlighted in his own name, integrating the suit of new values of horror cinema, which include Ari Aster, Robert Eggers or Jordan Peele. The Festival dedicates a well-deserved full retrospective to him and invites him to a masterclass.
As far as classics are concerned, MOTELX is pleased to celebrate half a century of the obligatory “The Exorcist”, by William Friedkin, essential for much of the genre cinema that followed, with the projection of the restored 4K copy, in one of the Special Screenings.
There will also be the 1st Surprise Screening of the Festival, in partnership with FilmTwist.
Continuing with the celebration of cult films, we confirm “Tarde Demais” (Portugal, 2000), by José Nascimento, co-written with João Canijo, “Serpiente de Mar” (Spain, 1985), the last film by Amando de Ossorio , filmed on the Portuguese coast, and the century-old film “Os Olhos da Alma” by Roger Lion. These three works make up the Lost Room section, in partnership with FILMar - a program operated by Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema, under the European Financial Mechanism EEAGrants 2020-2024, whose mission is to restore and digitize cinema related to the sea.
2023 is also the year that YouTube joins forces with MOTELX in the microFILMS section. Until 23 August, registration is open for the YouTube microFILMS Award, which challenges submitters to produce films of up to 2 minutes, filmed on a mobile phone, tablet or webcam. In this edition, the fierce category provides three new monetary prizes - Best microFILM, Special Mention and Best Trailer YouTube Shorts (for those who compete with their microFILM trailer), and a YouTube training session addressing rules, tricks and ideas for the monetization of content on their platform.
In other news, MOTELX associates for the first time with GUIÕES - Festival do Roteiro e da Língua Portuguesa to present a parallel program dedicated to screenplays and training for the production of horror cinema in the country, through pitching sessions, masterclasses, workshops, debates, and film screenings. “The Witch” by Robert Eggers will be presented by its producer Rodrigo Teixeira, who is coming to Lisbon to develop a production workshop. Within this joint adventure, a new award was born dedicated to screenplays for unproduced feature films: the MOTELX GUIÕES Award - Best Portuguese Screenplay, whose submission deadline for proposals ended in June. SectionX for experimental horror continues to be a winning bet that, apart from the usual selection of short films, will present a feature film for the first time: the British “Home Invasion” presented at the last Berlinale.
The three screening rooms at Cinema São Jorge also hide the Big Bad Wolf, a programme dedicated to younger audiences. The animation “Perlimps” (Brazil, 2022), by Alê Abreu, is one of the featured films.
There are also news regarding partners and support.
As sponsors this year, BNP Paribas, YouTube - which lends its name to the microFILMS section - and FilmTwist, a Portuguese streaming platform dedicated to fantastic and horror, this year's programming partner. ADLC Audiovisuais, Seaside and Cerveja Coruja renew and reinforce their support for the great horror film festival. WYcreative and Still were in charge of creating the image and video promo.
MOTELX is coming!
From the 12 to 18 of September, horror will be the special of the day!
Between premieres, special guests, surprises and programming partnerships, the Festival will be, for seven days, in constant harmony with contemporaneity, but also with historical and fundamental moments in ensuring the present and contaminating the future that looks bright for genre cinema, national and international.
One of the first major confirmations is the European premiere of “Amelia’s Children” by Gabriel Abrantes, the new and much-awaited film directed by one of the greatest talents in Portuguese cinema. Other highlights are the incendiary “Property” by Brazilian Daniel Bandeira; the French “Vincent Must Die” by Stéphan Castang, and the winner of Cannes Critics' Week 2023, the Malaysian “Tiger Stripes”.
But there are more terrifying films being shown for the first time in Portugal and representing the Festival's official selection: Jennifer Reeder's second feature, presented in Berlin, “Perpetrator”; Jacqueline Castel's “My Animal,” a female take on a Canadian horror classic; the Australian “Run Rabbit Run” with “Succession” actress Sarah Snook; and the return of David Farrier, of “Tickled”, with the new documentary/thriller based on the investigation of a fait-diver in “Mister Organ”.
“Infinity Pool”, Brandon Cronenberg's most recent and resounding film, arrives exclusively at MOTELX, as does the man himself. The screening of this body horror meets science fiction, his third feature film, here in the director’s cut version, will be complemented by a retrospective of his work, including “Antiviral” and the unprecedented “Possessor”. With a very strong work of his own, the son of David Cronenberg proves that he deserves to be highlighted in his own name, integrating the suit of new values of horror cinema, which include Ari Aster, Robert Eggers or Jordan Peele. The Festival dedicates a well-deserved full retrospective to him and invites him to a masterclass.
As far as classics are concerned, MOTELX is pleased to celebrate half a century of the obligatory “The Exorcist”, by William Friedkin, essential for much of the genre cinema that followed, with the projection of the restored 4K copy, in one of the Special Screenings.
There will also be the 1st Surprise Screening of the Festival, in partnership with FilmTwist.
Continuing with the celebration of cult films, we confirm “Tarde Demais” (Portugal, 2000), by José Nascimento, co-written with João Canijo, “Serpiente de Mar” (Spain, 1985), the last film by Amando de Ossorio , filmed on the Portuguese coast, and the century-old film “Os Olhos da Alma” by Roger Lion. These three works make up the Lost Room section, in partnership with FILMar - a program operated by Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema, under the European Financial Mechanism EEAGrants 2020-2024, whose mission is to restore and digitize cinema related to the sea.
2023 is also the year that YouTube joins forces with MOTELX in the microFILMS section. Until 23 August, registration is open for the YouTube microFILMS Award, which challenges submitters to produce films of up to 2 minutes, filmed on a mobile phone, tablet or webcam. In this edition, the fierce category provides three new monetary prizes - Best microFILM, Special Mention and Best Trailer YouTube Shorts (for those who compete with their microFILM trailer), and a YouTube training session addressing rules, tricks and ideas for the monetization of content on their platform.
In other news, MOTELX associates for the first time with GUIÕES - Festival do Roteiro e da Língua Portuguesa to present a parallel program dedicated to screenplays and training for the production of horror cinema in the country, through pitching sessions, masterclasses, workshops, debates, and film screenings. “The Witch” by Robert Eggers will be presented by its producer Rodrigo Teixeira, who is coming to Lisbon to develop a production workshop. Within this joint adventure, a new award was born dedicated to screenplays for unproduced feature films: the MOTELX GUIÕES Award - Best Portuguese Screenplay, whose submission deadline for proposals ended in June. SectionX for experimental horror continues to be a winning bet that, apart from the usual selection of short films, will present a feature film for the first time: the British “Home Invasion” presented at the last Berlinale.
The three screening rooms at Cinema São Jorge also hide the Big Bad Wolf, a programme dedicated to younger audiences. The animation “Perlimps” (Brazil, 2022), by Alê Abreu, is one of the featured films.
There are also news regarding partners and support.
As sponsors this year, BNP Paribas, YouTube - which lends its name to the microFILMS section - and FilmTwist, a Portuguese streaming platform dedicated to fantastic and horror, this year's programming partner. ADLC Audiovisuais, Seaside and Cerveja Coruja renew and reinforce their support for the great horror film festival. WYcreative and Still were in charge of creating the image and video promo.
MOTELX is coming!
From the 12 to 18 of September, horror will be the special of the day!