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MOTELX 2025: The Winners of the 19th Edition
From cursed tales to hauntings of the past and present, our winners sow nightmares and reap glory.
With another MOTELX coming to an end, it is time to reveal the winners of this 19th edition, which over 7 days once again transformed Cinema São Jorge into the most sought-after temple of terror.
The jury panel composed of Cláudia Jardim (creator and performer), Teresa Vieira (programmer, critic, and journalist), and Manuel Baptista (programmer) awarded the MOTELX Award – Best Portuguese Horror Short Film 2025 to Afonso Lucas and Rodrigo Motty for “The Composer”: a film “where human and power relations guide the characters along paths of obsession, subjugation, and submission, where the suffering of others fills one’s own emptiness.” An Honourable Mention was also given to “Inclosed”, by Jonas Costa, for its “effective script development and excellent editing,” as well as “for being a strong mirror of mundane terror and obsession.”
The same jury also awarded “Amarelo Banana”, by Portuguese director Alexandre Sousa, the Méliès d’argent - Best European Short Prize, highlighting its “mastery in creating a peculiar and macabre universe, through an approach that relies as much on simplicity as on originality.”
The Méliès d’argent Award – Best European Feature 2025 went to “Her Will Be Done”, by French filmmaker Julia Kowalski. The jury, composed of Miguel Honrado (cultural manager), Rui Alves de Sousa (journalist), and Cristiana Miranda (director and producer), praised this coming-of-age story, set against the horrors of a rural environment dominated by men, “for its narrative boldness, its unsettling atmosphere, and the emotional and psychological intensity it evokes.”
As for screenwriting, the jury composed of João Cândido (director and screenwriter), Luís Campos (director and producer), and Mariana Vicente (screenwriter) awarded “Killing’s in the Wild! (Six Princes and a Pauper”, by António Xavier Rodrigues, the MOTELX GUIÕES Award – Best Portuguese Horror Screenplay.
The Prémio Betclic Monster Odds MOTELX went to Maurício Valentino Borges for his script “O Clube de Tricô das Quartas” The author will receive a cash prize of €1,500 and the unique opportunity to see his short film produced by Betclic, with a budget of up to €40,000.
The Big Bad Wolf Award – our section for younger audiences and families – went to “The Legend of the Hummingbird”, by Morgan Devos. The jury, composed of Ana Clara Barros, Ângela Semedo, and Adilson Semedo (young participants from the CoolBRAVE project), also gave an Honourable Mention to “Nube”, by Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera Estrada and Christian Arredondo Narvaez.
Finally, the Audience Award went to “Dragonfly”, by Paul Andrew Williams, esists categorisation, moving from the world of social realism — evocative of Mike Leigh — into the simmering violence of loneliness. Brenda Blethyn (“Secrets & Lies”), twice Oscar-nominated, and Andrea Riseborough (“Possessor”) deliver outstanding performances in this encounter between two souls on the edge—ready to embark on a journey that unleashes the imagination, without warning and beyond the point of return.
The jury panel composed of Cláudia Jardim (creator and performer), Teresa Vieira (programmer, critic, and journalist), and Manuel Baptista (programmer) awarded the MOTELX Award – Best Portuguese Horror Short Film 2025 to Afonso Lucas and Rodrigo Motty for “The Composer”: a film “where human and power relations guide the characters along paths of obsession, subjugation, and submission, where the suffering of others fills one’s own emptiness.” An Honourable Mention was also given to “Inclosed”, by Jonas Costa, for its “effective script development and excellent editing,” as well as “for being a strong mirror of mundane terror and obsession.”
The same jury also awarded “Amarelo Banana”, by Portuguese director Alexandre Sousa, the Méliès d’argent - Best European Short Prize, highlighting its “mastery in creating a peculiar and macabre universe, through an approach that relies as much on simplicity as on originality.”
The Méliès d’argent Award – Best European Feature 2025 went to “Her Will Be Done”, by French filmmaker Julia Kowalski. The jury, composed of Miguel Honrado (cultural manager), Rui Alves de Sousa (journalist), and Cristiana Miranda (director and producer), praised this coming-of-age story, set against the horrors of a rural environment dominated by men, “for its narrative boldness, its unsettling atmosphere, and the emotional and psychological intensity it evokes.”
As for screenwriting, the jury composed of João Cândido (director and screenwriter), Luís Campos (director and producer), and Mariana Vicente (screenwriter) awarded “Killing’s in the Wild! (Six Princes and a Pauper”, by António Xavier Rodrigues, the MOTELX GUIÕES Award – Best Portuguese Horror Screenplay.
The Prémio Betclic Monster Odds MOTELX went to Maurício Valentino Borges for his script “O Clube de Tricô das Quartas” The author will receive a cash prize of €1,500 and the unique opportunity to see his short film produced by Betclic, with a budget of up to €40,000.
The Big Bad Wolf Award – our section for younger audiences and families – went to “The Legend of the Hummingbird”, by Morgan Devos. The jury, composed of Ana Clara Barros, Ângela Semedo, and Adilson Semedo (young participants from the CoolBRAVE project), also gave an Honourable Mention to “Nube”, by Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera Estrada and Christian Arredondo Narvaez.
Finally, the Audience Award went to “Dragonfly”, by Paul Andrew Williams, esists categorisation, moving from the world of social realism — evocative of Mike Leigh — into the simmering violence of loneliness. Brenda Blethyn (“Secrets & Lies”), twice Oscar-nominated, and Andrea Riseborough (“Possessor”) deliver outstanding performances in this encounter between two souls on the edge—ready to embark on a journey that unleashes the imagination, without warning and beyond the point of return.