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SectionX at MOTELX: Full Program
SectionX makes way for the “2551” trilogy by Norbert Pfaffenbichler, one of the most fascinating figures in European avant-garde cinema. There are also four short film blocks where horror becomes a living, pulsating experimental laboratory. Serious cinephilia: attend at your own risk.
In SectionX — the guardian section of experimental cinema — we highlight the unclassifiable “2551” trilogy by Austrian filmmaker Norbert Pfaffenbichler. Between the possibilities of technology and the limits of flesh, no less surprising is our short film showcase, which you’ll be able to discover throughout the festival.
Rooted in avant-garde cinema traditions, the "2551" trilogy by Austrian filmmaker Norbert Pfaffenbichler propels us into a universe of utopian perversion and politicized delirium. A work made on — and about — the margins, it caused a stir on the European film festival circuit and now arrives at MOTELX to test the limits of bad taste as an art form.
"2551.01 – The Kid" (2020), described by the director himself as a “dystopian slapstick film,” is a bold and anarchic reimagining of Chaplin’s The Kid. In it, a man wearing an ape mask takes in an abandoned child, and together they wander through an underground world populated by grotesque figures inhabiting the depths of physical and existential horror.
"2551.02 – The Orgy of the Damned" (2023) continues this burlesque homage to Chaplin, asserting itself as an act of pure visual punk, in which our Ape Man becomes lost in a labyrinth of endless depravities, marked by the explosive fusion of eroticism and extreme black humour.
Everything culminates in "2551.03 – The End" (2025), the final chapter that, in a tone of nihilistic melancholy, concludes the protagonist’s journey through a universe obliterated by the corruptibility of power imposed through sex and violence.
Double Bill September 11 | 8:30 PM | Room 2 | Cinema São Jorge
Triple Bill September 13 | 5:00 PM | Rank Room | Cinema São Jorge
Single Screening September 13 | 6:40 PM | Room 3 | Cinema São Jorge
All screenings will feature the presence of the director. Each film offers a unique narrative and aesthetic experience, and can be understood and appreciated on its own.
Hearts ache, desire burns, bodies tremble. Under the theme Lines of Blood and Desire, the first SectionX short film block presents 5 works that evoke lust, yearning, and transformation: at times tender, at times fiercely strange.
Bloodlines & Desire | Short films: SectionX #01Hearts ache, desire burns, bodies tremble. Under the theme Lines of Blood and Desire, the first SectionX short film block presents 5 works that evoke lust, yearning, and transformation: at times tender, at times fiercely strange.
A Brighter Summer Day for the Lady Avengers 12'
Where The Wind Comes From 16'
Tako Tsubo 6'
You are the Truck and I am the Deer 5'
Last Call 7'
September 9 | 9:30 PM | Room 2 | Cinema São Jorge
In the Digital Alchemy block, all films use the screen as more than just a surface — it is a portal, a weapon, an altar.
Digital Alchemy | Short films: SectionX #02
Hito 22
'Primaldial Magma_Zygmutrophooze 16'
Endlessly Hungry 3'
La Cordá 16'
The Crust That Came Back To Life 9'
September 10 | 7:45 PM | Room 2 | Cinema São Jorge
In the Nature of Monsters block, through cultures and styles — and between horror and melancholy — the short films conjure stories of ancestral forces and dreamlike encounters.
The Nature of Monsters | Short films: SectionX #03
Mother of Dawn 8'
Redman 1'
The Garden Sees Fire 15'
Trolsk 4'
Sogno Rosso (Red Dream) 8'
The Masked Monster 15'
September 12 | 1:00 PM | Room 3 | Cinema São Jorge
The Flesh Is Weak is a block that takes the body itself as its stage — a site of transformation, punishment, and desire. Each film stages an encounter in which a character’s physical being becomes entangled with forces beyond their control.
The Flesh Is Weak | Short films: SectionX #04
/HAAW/ 12'
Occhio 6'
Mississippi Blood Slide 9'
Hard Cash 20'
Inside You 2'
In SectionX, MOTELX conjures the ghost of horror within underground cinema.
Digital Alchemy | Short films: SectionX #02
Hito 22
'Primaldial Magma_Zygmutrophooze 16'
Endlessly Hungry 3'
La Cordá 16'
The Crust That Came Back To Life 9'
September 10 | 7:45 PM | Room 2 | Cinema São Jorge
In the Nature of Monsters block, through cultures and styles — and between horror and melancholy — the short films conjure stories of ancestral forces and dreamlike encounters.
The Nature of Monsters | Short films: SectionX #03
Mother of Dawn 8'
Redman 1'
The Garden Sees Fire 15'
Trolsk 4'
Sogno Rosso (Red Dream) 8'
The Masked Monster 15'
September 12 | 1:00 PM | Room 3 | Cinema São Jorge
The Flesh Is Weak is a block that takes the body itself as its stage — a site of transformation, punishment, and desire. Each film stages an encounter in which a character’s physical being becomes entangled with forces beyond their control.
The Flesh Is Weak | Short films: SectionX #04
/HAAW/ 12'
Occhio 6'
Mississippi Blood Slide 9'
Hard Cash 20'
Inside You 2'
In SectionX, MOTELX conjures the ghost of horror within underground cinema.