Previous Editions

MOTELX 2024

18th Edition

Méliès d'argent Award - Best European Horror Feature Film
Room Service
Doc Horror
For the Sake of the Nation: Horror Films Forbidden by the Estado Novo
Lost Room: Vampires, Werewolves & the Ghost of Dictatorship
Cult Room
Special Screenings
MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Short
International Shorts
SectionX
Big Bad Wolf
AI Horror Short Films Showcase

Image & Video Spot

This year, the image and spot were created by the production company Playground. The spot was directed by Rui Vieira, with photography direction by Bernardo Infante.

19500

Spectators
88

Sessions
52

Features
89

Shorts

Video summary 2024

Events

Masterclasses, debates and varied presentations focused especially on the topic of writing for cinema and television with a three-day program organized in a new partnership with GUIÕES – Festival do Roteiro de Língua Portuguesa, which completed 10 years.
In addition to a packed Big Bad Wolf program aimed at families, there was the return to MOTELX Virtual Reality, under the banner of "Alternative Horror" and the epic night of MOTELquiz. There was furious dancing at the After Dark MOTELX party at Incógnito Bar. Several books and magazines were launched, in addition to a brand new exhibition AI Horror Short Film Showcase, part of a Warm-up program that excelled in avant-garde and innovation, with a laboratory program of fusion between electronic music and horror cinema entitled MOTELX AV LAB co-hosted by Liquid Sky Artistcollective.
In the showcase "A Bem da Nação" we address the theme of horror films banned by the Estado Novo, showing a selection of the best that ended with a Special Screening in the "secret" Rank room at Cinema São Jorge, with just 21 seats, where, according to legend, the SNI held sessions with its censors and where even the dictator himself would have seen films.
Heidi Honeycutt presented her book “I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies“ on the panel entitled “Preserve Your Legacy”, with director Prano Bailey-Bond (“Censor”) and representatives from the MUTIM association. Alan Jones, in addition to being part of the festival's jury, presented his two new books: "Starburst" and "Discomania".
In the brand new Sala de Culto section, we screened “The Old Man and the Sword”, a contemporary B series by Albicastrense Fábio Powers - the debutant Portuguese director, creator of this hybrid between comedy, drama and action, came to MOTELX to make his National Premiere in triumph.

72-HOUR FILM PROJECT MOTELX/FCSH “VISLUMBRE”

MOTELX and FCSH – Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of NOVA University of Lisbon joined forces once again, this time to co-organise a film directing workshop. A free adaptation of the first Portuguese horror film, “Os Crimes de Diogo Alves” (1911), which also opens the book “MOTELX’s Lost Room – The Films of Portuguese Horror (1911-2006)”, “Vislumbre” unlocks a seer experience as it explores what may have been the Águas Livres Aqueduct famous killer’s only regret. The film’s screening was followed by a conversation between the team and João Monteiro, MOTELX’s artistic director.

Book Presentations: “Discomania” and “Starburst”

Alan Jones, the award-winning film critic, genre journalist, and Artistic Director of London’s FrightFest and Italy’s Trieste Science+Fiction festivals, presented at MOTELX his two recent books: “Starburst: The Complete Alan Jones Film Reviews 1977-2008” and “Discomania”.

“Preserve Your Legacy” Panel & “I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies” Book Presentation With MUTIM, Heidi Honeycutt, Prano Bailey-Bond

From the first silent reels to modern independent films, so much of women horror directors' history has been lost. Inspired by Heidi Honeycutt’s book “I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies”, the panel “Preserve Your Legacy” was preceded by an official book signing, featured both the author and director Prano BaileyBond (“Censor”), and was moderated by Biatriz Alves Ribeiro of Mulheres Trabalhadoras das Imagens em Movimento (MUTIM).

Book Launch: “Os Melhores Contos da Fábrica do Terror – Vol. 2”

Fábrica do Terror again presented the best in horror literature gathered in a physical work with the best short stories already published digitally, on the platform that houses all artistic production within the genre in Portugal. In 2024, “Os Melhores Contos da Fábrica do Terror – Vol. 2” features an impressive total of 54 authors, including first-time, emerging, and established talents.

COFFEE TASTING WORKSHOP – CUPPING FÁBRICA COFFEE ROASTERS

“Cupping” is a tasting where you can try and compare different (and delicious) varieties of coffee. In this workshop, we learned how to judge the acidity, sweetness, and body of the coffee, and how each one is unique.

MOTELX Virtual Reality: Alternative Horror

In this virtual reality event we enjoyed a unique experience in alternative scenarios that wouldn’t otherwise be seen by the participants. Created by students from IADE’s Creative Technologies course, this was a great opportunity to experiment with technologies that have been growing significantly in the world of video games and immersive experiences.

Launch of the Third Sequel of Zona Negra’s Magazine Dedicated To Horror: “Zona Negra III”

For those who love comics and horror, we launched the third sequel of the “Zona Negra” magazine dedicated to horror: “Zona Negra III” - over a hundred pages in black and white dedicated to authorial horror by various emerging artists, and returned to MOTELX after the release of its first edition.

MOTEL QUIZ: THE RETURN II

MOTELquiz’s epic night was back! With it, our famous questions about horror cinema, pop culture, and – let’s be honest – anything that crosses our hosts’ minds at the moment.

After Dark Party at Incógnito Bar

Miss Boopsie Cola herself, Cláudia Duarte, and with us since 2022, the magical Groove Armanda, gave us two DJ sets filled with indie dance, indie rock, disco not disco, and new wave.

Book Launch “A Volta no Caixão”, by Pedro Lucas Martins

Death takes up little space, but it can last for a long time, in the short stories buried inside “A Volta no Caixão”, a collection which was presented by the author Pedro Lucas Martins.

ALMA Activities for Children: Sensory Workshop

At the ALMA Sensory Workshop, children gave free rein to their imagination as they explored their five senses, in an activity with slightly “terrible” elements with which children interacted creatively.

“O Casalinho do Diabo”: Sensory Reading

While reading the illustrated book “O Casalinho do Diabo”, by Jerónimo Rocha, we explored the contents of a mysterious box that materializes the objects of the story.

Fears by Many Hands: We’ve Animated a Monster!

In this workshop, we made and animated our own “Coca” monster with new colleagues and the help of one of the most ingenious Portuguese horror filmmakers, Fernando Alle, famous for his trash horror films where homemade special effects are the order of the day.

Guests

In 2024 we will have a multitude of diverse guests, directors, actors, producers and various figures linked to genre cinema from all corners of the world. There were 77 distinguished guests who joined us for the great Lisbon celebration of horror cinema, with emphasis on the directors of the featured films Tilman Singer ("Cuckoo"), Edgar Pêra ("Telepathic Letters", in a world premiere), Aislinn Clarke (“Fréwaka”), Ayşe Polat (”In the Blind Spot"), João Cândido Zacharias ("The Inheritance"), Can Evrenol ("Sayara"), Sokyou Chea ("Tenement"), Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo ("The Soul Eater"), Loic Tanson ("The Last Ashes") and the dean and figurehead of 21st century Portuguese culture (Maestro ) António Victorino d' Almeida, who presented his film "The Fault", part of the Lost Room section.
All the competing directors for the MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Short attended the call to be our honorable guests and had the opportunity to present their work, as well as dozens of directors of the International Short Films shown.

National and international guest directors
Aislinn Clarke, Alessandra Roucos, Alexandre Bustillo, Ayşe Polat, Bailey-Bond, Camilla Ciardi, Carolina Aguiar, Carlos Calika, Catarina de Cèzanne, Chico Noras, Cláudio Monteiro, Colin G. Cooper, Dan Martin, David Falcão, David Vieira, Diogo Costa, Edgar Pêra, Fernando Alle, Frederico Majerus, Gabriel Nery, Guilherme Daniel, Jack Downs, João Bruno Carnide, João Cândido Zacharias, João Pais da Silva, João Pedro Frazão, Johnny Herbin, Julien Maury, Löic Tanson, Maëva João, Maria Cabecinha, Maria Teresa Teixeira, Mário Patrocínio, Miguel Afonso, Miguel Andrade, Paulo Leite, Prano Bailey-Bond, Ross Scott, Sam Fox, Sofia Pessoa Pádua, Sokyou Chea, Tiago “Ramón” Santos, Tilman Singer.