The Festival Monstra had its 25th anniversary this past March and was celebrated with all the bells and whistles, filled to the brim with content and activities to partake on, just like previous editions. As a recurring patron of the festival for six years by now, this edition kept its selling points strong, such as workshops and masterclasses, and a program based on its guest country, this year being Austria, which led me to learn more about this country’s animation scene, which was quite unknown to me, relative to its neighbor countries. The festival’s educational platform remains unmatched.

However, I thought the selection of shorts this year left a bit to be desired. It’s by no means a bad selection of shorts, far from that, but with the gargantuan event that was the Annecy Festival last year, and the strong selection of shorts at Cinanima Festival in Espinho last November, Monstra ended up having a rather predictable program in that regard. The winning shorts deserve their laureates, but I believe many of the shorts in their respective categories deserve as much attention, and it’s a big concern of mine that these will be lost to time.

With that said, I decided to list of some of my favorite shorts that didn’t end up winning, highly recommended for viewing either at a festival or at home. Starting with:

Short Perspectives

I consider this competition as Monstra’s very own Un Certain Regard. Movies that didn’t get enough votes to reach the official selection, but their quality granted their very own category, which to be quite honest, this year’s selection ended up being better than that of the main competition.

Yuck!, by Loïc Espuche from France, was the big winner of the Short Perspectives, a cute movie that received an Oscar nomination. However, I will highlight the following movies:

MONT NOIR, by Erika Haglund, Jean-Baptiste Peltier (France, Portugal)

This co-production of Portugal and France was at Annecy’s official selection, and it stands out from its picturesque art direction and heartbreaking story of a young girl that writes to deal with mortality.

ENTROPIC MEMORY, by Nicolas Brault (Canada)

One of the experimental movies that I saw at both Annecy and Cinanima, winning an award in the latter. A creative use of objects gathered from the aftermath of a flood, which oozes a profuse aura of sadness.

STAMPFER DREAMS, by Thomas Renoldner (Austria)

The latest movie by one of Monstra’s guest artists, and his most accessible work from his long career as a filmmaker, Thomas Renoldner made an extensive research of the live and work of scientist Simon von Stampfer and the creation of the stroboscopic disc, one of the first optical toys and an ancestor of cinema. The final result is a movie made with a lot of care, and a fascinating companion book about the making of this tribute to Stampfer.

VOLCELEST, by Eric Briche (France)

An intense movie about a ferret that tries to survive the harsh winters in the mountains. An excellent movie on a technical level, and an anxiety-inducing story. Not at all a fairy tale with cute woodland critters.

CHRONICITY, by Aleta Rajič (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

The less I talk about this movie, the better. It’s a prime example of a plot twist.

TENNIS, ORANGES, by Sean Pecknold (USA)

Another movie from Annecy and Cinanima’s official selections, this surreal stop-motion movie starts out funny, but as the fable of the rabbit and the roomba unfolds, it becomes moving or even tragic. With this movie I learned that I have a keen sense in identifying a crowd 's applause, and with Tennis, Oranges, I recognized a moved and enthralled public applauding when it was over.

SKRFF, by Corrie Francis Parks e Daniel Nuderscher (Austria)

Another experimental movie with an exquisite quality, this time around about a public wall in Vienna with over 40 years worth of graffiti and paint, which is scraped layer by layer, revealing a surprising color palette. A geology lesson in concrete. The SKRFF_ology Team brought over to the festival postcards with screenshots of the movie and augmented reality, a brilliant way to promote the movie, which will be part of Annecy’s official selection this year. Hats off to everyone at SKRFF_ology Team.

Honorable mentions go to SHOES AND HOOVES, by the hungarian director Viktória Traub, which concept has the potential to spawn an anthology of shorts or even a feature, FUSION, by canadian Richard Reeves, who keeps Norman McLaren’s experimental flame alive, WEEDS, by Pola Kazak from Czech Republic, and THE VOICE OF THE SIRENS, Gianluigi Toccafondo from Italy, both of which explore motherhood in extremely distinct approaches.

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Students Competition

It may sound weird to write this, but the students competitions are my favorites in film festivals, both at Monstra and at Cinanima. It’s fascinating to see projects by young adults making their debut, still in graduation, with final products with a quality equal or even better than those of professional filmmakers.

The winning films include The Cat, the Fox and the Wolf by Aurore Muller Feuga (France), Canned by Hasse Van Overbeke (Belgium), Detlev by Ferdinand Ehrhardt (Germany), The Bird from Within by Laura Anahory and Cherry, Passion Fruit by Renato José Duque (both from Portugal). However, there are movies that deserve equal recognition for their technical prowas and emotional value. Movies such as:

PEAR GARDEN, by Shadab Shayegan (Germany)

An adorable movie about one of the hardest subject to explain to a child: breast cancer. This movie ends with an hilarious and heartwarming outcome.

THE DEER, by Baran Sedighian (Netherlands)

A picturesque fable told by an Iranian director based in the Netherlands, this contains a minimalist art direction, though with a composition similar to eastern tapestry to tell a story with medieval sensibilities, with a highly effective result.

HIC SVNT DRACONES, by Justin Fayard (France)

This movie must be seen on a big screen, like an IMAX one, for its ghostly landscapes and its otherworldly soundscape are worthy of the famous latin phrase, which describes an unknown and inhospitable place for any living being. Seeing this movie felt like climbing down a cave of ice and cold fire, unable to return. Without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite movie from this competition.

YOU ARE MY LIGHT, by Hana Stehlíková (Czech Republic)

A goregeous and moving story about the pressure and stress a mother deals when her child is born. Post-labor depression is sort of an abstract concept for the male audience, and this movie explains this unexpected predicament effortlessly through the use of metaphors.

HI DAD, by WeiFan Wang (Taiwan)

A succinct but deeply impactful movie. The director reveals his conflict and frustration in coming out to his father. To complement the brief dialog, surreal images fill the screen to emphasize the protagonist’s pressure.

FINAL JUDGEMENT, by Clémence Taveau (France)

A short but fun film about a field trip to Italy. A pleasant surprise, for I can relate with this story and the field trips which it’s inspired on.

ADIÓS, by José Prats (United Kingdom)

This gorgeous stop motion movie won the Generation M award at the Monstrinha competition, but it’s worth being mentioned in this category. A self-reflective movie about migration in search of a new life, at the cost of leaving the family behind.

Honorable mentions go to WHITE ZONE, a horror movie by Maria Minaeva, Carole Naegelen, Marie-Ange Lombard, Marie-Lys Mathias, Enola Pardon, Sarah Bernu, FOREVER, a comedic adventure by Théo DJEKOU, Pierre FERRARI, Cyrine JOUINI, Pauline PHILIPPART, Anissa TERRIER, both made at renowned animation schools in France, WILD, a surreal comedy by russian director Saule Matvienko, RECORDARI, a story which takes place in Pinochet’s Chile, as told by director Carolina Cruz, and A TINY LITTLE LINT IN MY GARDEN, by south korean director Bom Kim.

Official Selection

This year, Monstra’s short films competition stood out for not being as stellar as previous editions. This is due to many of the movies shown in this competition being repeats from Cinanima, as well as a great amount of portuguese-produced movies, including co-productions. These repeats lead to some fatigue both from spectators from both festivals and filmmakers, regardless of the selection’s quality.

That being said, the winners were deserved, if somewhat predictable, with BEAUTIFUL MEN, by Nicholas Keppens (Belgium), THE CAR THAT CAME BACK FROM THE SEA, de Jadwiga Kowalska (Switzerland), and PERCEBES, by Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires (Portugal), winning awards in either Annecy or Cinanima. Other movies would have won had that advantage not existed, such as:

HELLO SUMMER!, by Martin Smatana e Veronika Zacharová (Slovakia)

Smatana is a creative and brilliant craftsman, and Hello Summer! Is another prime example of his universally appealing work, using everyday objects in unorthodox ways, as well as a hilarious and relatable narrative.

THE PAINTING, by Michèle Lemieux (Canada)

A movie which with every new watch becomes more somber. The reinterpretation of a painting as innocuous as a portrait of Marianne of Austria by Velásquez is displayed with zero subtlety and a ghostly aura, all around the young queen’s sad expression.

The movie is available on NFB’s YouTube channel. WATCH HERE.

A NIGHT AT THE REST AREA, by Saki Muramoto (Japan)

There’s no situation during a trip more unpleasant than a forced stop at a rest area in the middle of the night, and I know no movie that demonstrates such reality like this one, with the use of cute animals in contrast to the depressing environment, exacerbating the movie’s humor.

DAUGHTER OF BUTADES, by Hirotoshi Iwasaki (Japan)

A movie hard to recommend to anyone, but beautiful regardless, with its graphite drawings flowing at the narrator’s voice, in a reflective and sad tone.

The movie had a complementary exhibition which can be seen in Hirotoshi Iwasaki’s website. WATCH HERE.

UNDERGROUND, de Yiannis Christoforou (Grece, Cyprus)

A movie with a nihilistic, even hellish ambiance, with a stop-motion animation and camerawork that help emphasize its claustrophobic environment. An authentic Divine Comedy for ambient lovers.

Gina Kamentsky’s Pinnochio in 70mm (USA)

One of the wackiest movies seen at Annecy, Gina Kamentsky creates her own version of Carlo Collodi’s classic, likely as a response to the amount of animated adaptations that showed up over the last couple of years, from Disney’s remake to Guillermo del Toro’s stop motion movie.

The movie is available on the director’s Vimeo channel.WATCH HERE (epilepsy warning)

THE NIGHT BOOTS, by Pierre-Luc Granjon (France)

This movie received an honorable mention but I’ll mention it here for it’s a delight. An artistic and narrative style worthy of a children’s book, the story of a boy that makes a bizarre friendship in the middle of the woods at night was the biggest surprise of this festival, not only for being new for me, but also for being executed practically flawlessly. A masterpiece.

Honorable mentions include CIRCLE, by Yumi Joung (South Korea), LOCA, by Véronique Paquette (Canada), THE WILD TEMPERED CLAVIER, by Anna Samo (Germany), SILENT PANORAMA, by Nicolas Piret (Belgium), Loopline, by Renuka Shahane (India), e MISERABLE MIRACLE, by Ryo Orikasa (Japan, France)

Click on the image to watch Loca.

Vasco Granja Awards

For the first time in the festival’s history, the portuguese competition was split in two screenings, due to the high amount of movies submitted. As a result of this high submission rate, student movies were also included in this competition, as an unprecedented move. As was expected, PERCEBES by Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires, from BAP, were the big winners, with IT SHOULDN’T RAIN TOMORROW by Maria Trigo Teixeira, from Aim, winning the Special Jury Award. Movies with sublime qualities, however, I consider two other movies in this competition that deserved equal attention for their quality:

THREE COMMA FOURTEEN, by Joana Nogueira e Patrícia Rodrigues

Animais AVPL is a studio that encourages experiment in film, as well as the exploration of themes barely touched, if at all, by auteur cinema. Three Comma Fourteen feels like the culmination of both pillars, exploring a rather contentious subject for certain parents, that being children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, and using many animation techniques to create various planes of existence and perspectives from the points of view of children stuck in their classroom tables. A movie that becomes more intriguing on the second watch.

THE GIRL WITH THE OCCUPIED EYES, by André Carrilho

The first time I saw the movie it convinced me to buy the book this movie is based on, to my nephew, who loved it the moment he opened the first page and was in awe of André Carrilho’s vibrant illustrations. Watching it a second time made me realize that André is a remarkable director. Rather than it being a direct adaptation of the book, several changes were made in order to make the movie more accessible and not render the book obsolete: for instance, changing narration for an original soundtrack by musician Nuno Costa and his band was a stroke of genius. Other details, such as the titular girl reacting to certain characters and the phone literally pulling her away as if it was cursed, and the world that gains shape with strokes and blots that gradually show up, complementing the song that sounds seemingly improvised, are elements that make this movie particularly special. A movie adaptation is never easy, especially children's books with a distinct visual identity, and many times the authors of their respective books aren’t tailored for such job, but André Carrilho has proven otherwise and emerged triumphant in this challenge.

Honorable mentions go to VENI VIDI NON VICI, by Leonor Calaça, which explores bullfighting through a bar talk between two friends, and the music video PAULINHA, by Ana Marta Mendes from Os Filmes do Pinguim, a movie that takes advantage of the lyrics of the titular song by Raul Manarte, and makes it an inane story worth listening.

Click on the image to watch Veni Vidi Non Vici

Some Final Words

A selection of movies won’t please everyone. Compared to previous editions, the choice of shorts by the festival had the misfortune of having a considerably high overlap with Cinanima’s, which led to fatigue from visitors of both festivals, either them being spectators, filmmakers or organizers of other festivals.

That being said, this was the sole downside in an otherwise solid festival filled with treats. The features competition had a reasonably strong selection; despite my complaints, rewatching some of my favorite movies at Annecy was a pleasure, and those seen at Cinanima were even better on a rewatch, excellent masterclasses, great retrospectives, an amazing exhibition at the Puppet Museum, and a nice time with friends of the field, on top of a rather excellent opening ceremony and a heartfelt closure.

As Monstra celebrates a round date, this edition was just like your typical birthday party: as perfect and tidy as we want everything, there’s always a broken glass of champagne bound to happen, but no one gets bothered by it.

Happy birthday to Monstra, congratulations to Fernando Galrito and Miguel Pires Matos for another great festival, and I wish them a prolific year of celebrations; see you next year.

🇬🇧 Monstra 2025 - The Choices of António Alves