– This year, the Portuguese festival is expanding its renowned industry programme with a new training and networking space called the Actors Hub
Yellow Letters by Ilker Çatak
The 22nd edition of FEST – New Directors New Films (20-28 June) starts this weekend in Espinho, with Ilker Çatak’s Golden Bear winner Yellow Letters having the honour of being its opening film.
Looking at the gathering’s rich movie programme, a batch of other Berlinale titles are part of the Golden Lynx Competition (for first and second feature-length fiction films): Sad Girlz by Fernanda Tovar (which was also shown at Tribeca), The Red Hangar by Juan Pablo Sallato and Truly Naked by Muriel d’Ansembourg. This competitive fiction section boasts a total of six features, also including the IFFR title A Fading Man by Welf Reinhart, the Venice-screened Girl by Shu Qi, and the Locarno title White Snail by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter. The Golden Lynx Competition also includes a documentary section, with four titles set to take part: Silent Flood by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, The Ground Beneath Our Feet by Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Comparsa by Vickie Curtis and Doug Anderson, and River Dreams by Kristina Mikhailova.
The festival’s Silver Lynx competition, dedicated to short films, covers four different formats: fiction (with 20 titles), documentary (ten titles), animation (13 titles) and experimental (13 titles). Meanwhile, the Grand National Prix section, dedicated to Portuguese productions, boasts 22 short films in competition this year.
As part of the non-competitive film programme, the festival celebrates Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda’s 100th birthday, in the BE KIND REWIND section. Besides this, the gathering will have a school in focus (this year the DFFB), and will organise the Echoes section (which showcases works from the past year as well as new pieces by filmmakers who have remained on the festival’s radar) and special screenings.
FEST’s Industry programme maintains its traditional networking and training role. This year, it features a new addition: the Actors Hub, a space for training, reflection and opportunities for actors and other professionals in the film and audiovisual industries. Besides this, the festival maintains its usual structure, with Training Ground, the Pitching Forum, the Sound and Music Hub, the Directors Hub, a Film Educators Meetup and networking activities all taking place on different dates throughout the festival. Confirmed guests include filmmakers Asghar Farhadi, Alexander Nanau, Miguel Faus and Danis Tanovic; producer-writer Kaveh Farnam; DoP Dan Laustsen; set decorator Katie Spencer and production designer Sarah Greenwood; underwater cinematography experts Françoise Valentine and Mike Valentine; music supervisor and sound editor John Warhust; and composer Harry Escott.
The festival will come to a close with a screening of Complaint Nº. 713317 by Yasser Shafiey.
