“Because Today is Saturday” by Alice Eça Guimarães | Portugal | 12’ | ani | 2025
Synopsis:
It's Saturday, and a woman struggles with the difficulty of reconciling her home life and her need to escape.
Alice Eça Guimarães:
Alice Eça Guimarães has worked both in advertising and animated films for over a decade. Her films have received prestigious awards, including the Sophia Award for Best Portuguese Short Film.
She is currently developing a stop-motion and pixilation short film titled Roupa Velha and an animated series about the Portuguese dictatorship called A Bem da Nação.
“Dog Alone” by Marta Reis Andrade | Portugal | 13’ | ani | 2025
Synopsis:
A dog was abandoned in its own home at the time when my grandfather began to experience his widowhood and I was returning from London, a place where I felt lonelier than ever.
Marta Reis Andrade:
Born in 1991, Marta studied directing at the Lisbon Theatre and Film School (ESTC), and finished her degree at FAMU in Prague. She studied animation for a year at Atelier de Sèvres, in Paris, and completed her master's degree in Animation at the Royal College of Art in London. Come to Me, her first year film, was selected for festivals around the world, and her graduation film The Village Game, was shortlisted for a BAFTA nomination in the student film category. Marta worked in London for institutions such as the BBC, Google and CNN as a concept artist and animator. She lives in Portugal since 2018, currently working as a director and animator at BAP - Animation Studios. Dog Alone, her most recent short film, was produced by BAP (Portugal) and co-produced by Ikki Films (France) and Olivier Catherin.
“Lina” by Margarida Madeira | Portugal | 8’ | ani | 2025
Synopsis:
Urzelina is a train crossing guard who does everything halfway. At midday she drinks half a cup of half-coffee half-milk and eats half a slice of toast. It is also in the in‑between, the past and present, that her days on duty along the railway line unfold. One day, something different disrupts her routine. It is this change that unlocks her movements even though they are no longer necessary. Urzelina is trapped by what she no longer has.
Margarida Madeira:
Margarida Madeira, born in 1987, is an animation film director whose work explores social themes, with a particular focus on female vulnerability. Her career began with Olinda (2010), a short film that addresses issues of identity and memory. Her second short film, Dona Fúnfia (2013), was selected for various festivals and received an Honorable Mention at Cinanima. In 2014, Margarida released "s Prisioneiros, a film about the human condition in captivity, which gained international recognition, including the Human Rights Award at FENACO 2015 in Peru. Especialidade da Casa (2015) and Ensaio sobre a Morte (2017) were selected for festivals such as MONSTRA and Tricky Women. Margarida also contributed to the children's series "Crias" (2019) and released "7 Senhoras" (2023), a comic book that won an award at the Amadora BD Festival. In 2025, she premiered Lina, at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival.
“Making It Fit” by Mariana Leal | Portugal | 4’ | ani | 2025 | World Premiere
Synopsis:
A short documentary film about how the LGBTQIA+ community has been reinventing funerary and remembrance rituals to better support and reflect the way people live in community.
Mariana Leal:
Mariana Leal is a Portuguese animation director. Her work explores inner worlds and lived experiences through animated materials. She studied animation at the University of the Arts London, where she is now an Associate Lecturer, and graduated with an MA in Film studies from Kings College London. She has been working in short-form documentary and fictional animation and compositing for long-form film and television. Her own films explore themes of mental health, grief, and rehumanizing the refugee crisis, developed through conversations and collaborations and a passion for connecting people through storytelling.
“My Oddly Unexpected Bond” by Carolina Sofia Batista | Portugal, Italy | 10’ | ani | 2025
Synopsis:
A family's unity is put to the test when it is confronted with the disappearance of a garment on which their entire self‑esteem depends on.
Carolina Sofia Batista:
Carolina Batista was born in 1996 in Aveiro, Portugal. She holds a Master’s degree in Illustration and Animation and completed professional training at the Aardman Academy in Puppet Making and at The Animation Workshop in Animation Production Management. After six years of experience in animation directing and production, she founded MALVADA, a production and distribution company based in Portugal, reflecting her passion for the entertainment industry. Her first short film, My Oddly Unexpected Bond, received funding from the Instituto do Cinema e Audiovisual, the Câmara Municipal de Aveiro, and the Emilia‑Romagna Film Commission. The film premiered at VISIONI ITALIANE 2025 in Bologna and was selected for national festivals such as MONSTRA – Lisbon Animation Festival and Fantasporto, later making the Quirino Awards 2026 shortlist for Best Ibero‑American Animated Short. In 2024 she was named one of Portugal’s emerging young talents by the Annecy Festival Selection Committee and served on the jury of the international competition Perspectives. She taught animation and web programming and was invited to mentor a final bachelor project at HSLU – Design Film Kunst in Switzerland.
“One-way cycle” by Alicia Núñez Puerto | Portugal | 10’ | ani | 2025 | Regional Premiere
Synopsis:
Adela was born in Spain in 1910. After years of washing clothes and enduring severe ovarian pain, she decided to emigrate to Cuba to join her sister. Painful menstruation can be a heavy burden, but it can also become the driving force behind a life change.
Alicia Núnez Puerto:
Goya-nominated producer and director with 20 years of experience and a full member of the Spanish Film Academy, Alicia has worked on more than 30 major productions for companies such as Aardman Animations, BRB Internacional and Ánima. Together with other colleagues, she founded MIA, the Association of Women in the Spanish Animation Industry, and was its first elected president. Alicia currently heads the Film Development Department at Ánima Estudios, is co-executive producer of "Aztec Batman" for WB-HBO Max, and One-Way Cycle is her second short film as a director.
