You may recall my last year’s refusal of Fantasporto being a shadow of its formal glory (if you don’t, you can read it again here) — yes the festival needed a little push back to life; no it didn’t mean it was over. And you know what? I was right!
Full disclosure here (before the haters return to claim I was paid to praise the festival): I am a fan of “Fantas”, I will always stand by the festival, I am determined to endorse it any way I can (and I will). In an age where everybody’s trying to do what everybody else is doing (and, people, it is boring), at 36 years of age Fantasporto keeps fresh. Yes, it’s kind of “niche-y” and offbeat (in case you haven’t noticed, it’s also the trend of this blog) but, trust me, there is an audience.
In 2014, 34 countries participated in the festival. Then, in 2015, it dropped to 28 countries participating. Clearly, the people who pronounced the festival dead then (if they were basing their claims on these numbers) haven’t watched enough horror movies — it’s damn hard to kill the undead, didn’t you know? That’s why they keep coming back, meaner and stronger. So, this year, just to confirm this horror movie rule, forty countries participated.
Out of 67 countries submitting their films to the festival, 40 countries were selected — Germany, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, UAE, Spain, USA, Philippines, France, Guinea, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, UK, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Venezuela and Sao Tome and Principe.
Since 2012, the festival supports the new generation of filmmakers in Portugal, screening the student’s short films and awarding the best film school. To acknowledge that, this year I’ll be interviewing two students, one of them is a member of this year’s winning film school, ESMAE – Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espectáculo. Liliana Gonçalves (director, writer, and co-producer of “TURP”) and Ricardo Couto (“Terra-Mãe”).