The Shortest Day, the great short film festival, is back in Portugal for the third consecutive year. In 2015, the initiative extends throughout the month of December with short film sessions for the whole family in 24 Portuguese cities, namely the Algarve Faro and Albufeira.
Every year, around December 21st, the northern hemisphere enters the coldest season due to the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.
This astronomical phenomenon inspired the creation of the festival that celebrates cinema in the short format: O Dia Mais Curto. The idea, which was born in France in 2011, quickly reached an international dimension and is currently being celebrated simultaneously in dozens of countries.
In Portugal, the event is organized by the Agência da Curta Metragem and will once again tour the country from north to south, also passing through the archipelagos.
Abrantes, Albufeira, Almada, Barcelos, Braga, Cascais, Castro Verde, Coimbra, Faro, Funchal, Guimarães, Leiria, Lisbon, Maia, Matosinhos, Oeiras, Ponta Delgada, Ponte de Lima, Porto, Sardoal, Vila do Conde, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Vila Nova de Gaia and Viseu will receive national short film sessions and international, for adults and children, through its own programs associated with the event, or through sessions made available by the Short Film Agency.
Em Faro, The Shortest Day will have sessions, in partnership with the Cineclube de Faro, Gym Club of Faro and at the Atrium (ex-cinema Santo António), as well as at Fnac do Fórum Algarve, on the 18th and 21st, while in Albufeira, it will be at the Fnac do AlgarveShopping, on the 21st. Click here for the full program of The Shortest Day.
The program “Panorama Nacional” presents a set of Portuguese short films that have stood out in recent times but which, in some cases, are still unknown to the general public: “Amélia & Duarte” by Alice Guimarães and Mónica Santos; “Blood Brothers” by Marco Espírito Santo and Miguel Coimbra; “Christmas Inventory” by Miguel Gomes; “Far from Eden” by Carlos Amaral; “Three Weeks in December” by Laura Gonçalves; and “Campo à Beira Mar” by André Ruivo.
The “Europe in Shorts” session includes films distributed by the Short Circuit, a European network of organizations dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of short films, and presents European authors and their perspective on the world, with all its complexity and fantasy. An opportunity to see some of the most outstanding and award-winning films in recent years.
The program “Stories in the Shadow of the Trees”, for children over 4 years old, also prepared by Short Circuit, is composed of short stories without lines from all over Europe, which lead us to meet funny and cute animals on a journey through four seasons of the year. Also aimed at the whole family, the “Curtinhas” program is a proposal by Casa da Animação in partnership with the Stuttgart Film Festival, and includes a set of short films for children over six years old.
The 3rd edition of O Dia Mais Curto will also feature two special sessions: at the Cinemateca Portuguesa, in Lisbon, and at the Municipal Theater of Vila do Conde.
The session at the Cinemateca presents, in its premiere in the capital, the short films “Vigil” by Rita Cruchinho; “Ramp” by Margarida Lucas; “The Tower” by Salomé Lamas; and “About El Cielo” by Jorge Quintela, with the presence of some of the directors.
In Vila do Conde, also with the presence of the directors, the short films “Vila do Conde Espraiada”, by Miguel Clara Vasconcelos, and “The Glory of Making Cinema in Portugal” by Manuel Mozos, will be presented.
Both films, produced by Curtas Metragens CRL and premiered in July at the 23rd Curtas Vila do Conde, were shot in the city and have a close connection with the history of Vila do Conde.
As in the past year, Metro do Porto joins the initiative by exhibiting, in some stations and carriages, short animated films throughout the 21st of December. The Fnac chain of stores will again show sessions in some of its establishments.
RTP and TV Cine will participate in this celebration: Cinemax, from RTP, will show, on the 9th and 16th, at 00:XNUMX, the films “Três Semanas Em Dezembro” by Laura Gonçalves, “Within” by Natália Azevedo Andrade, “Vicky and Sam” by Nuno Rocha and “Miami” by Simão Cayatte.
On its turn, TV Cine exhibits, at 21 pm on the 21st, the films “Lar Doce Lar” by Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazevet, Paccolat Stéphane; “Nada Fazi” by Filipa Reis, João Miller Guerra and “La Chambre Jaune” by André Godinho.
Also within the scope of O Dia Mais Curto, the French channel ARTE will screen, in the Court-circuit's special program, the animation short film “Amélia & Duarte”, by Mónica Santos and Alice Guimarães.
The Shortest Day will also be celebrated by students of different levels of education, with short film sessions in primary and secondary schools. Some higher education establishments will join the initiative by exhibiting their own programs made up of short films made by students of Cinema and Multimedia courses.
The Shortest Day is the festival of cinema, a moment of discovery that will light up the screens of the country!
Click here for the full program of The Shortest Day.
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