Made in Hollywood - Photos from the John Kobal Foundation

Conceived by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (US), "Made in Hollywood" shows the original photos by some of the most prominent photographers of the Hollywood studios between 1920 and 1960, such as George Hurrell, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Laszlo Willinger, Ernest Bachrach, A.L."Whitey" Schaefer, Bob Coburn, William Walling, E.R. Richee and Scotty Welbourne.

 The 93 photos belonging to the John Kobal Foundation and in exhibition at the Centro Cultural de Cascais, portray some of the most famous movie stars and symbols of the Hollywood studios golden era. Some of the names include Buster Keaton, Elizabeth Taylor, Gary Cooper, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo,Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Marylin Monroe and Rita Hayworth.

 Parallel activities will take place during the time of the exhibition, including a film programme in the movie hall Dr. Félix Ribeiro at the Cinemateca Portuguesa:

July 1 - Opening session with movie critique José Matos-Cruz.
Movie: "Suddenly Last Summer" (1959)

July 2 - 15h30 -  "Sabrina" (1954)
             19h30 - "Monkey Business" (1952)

July 3 - 15h30 - "The Young Lions" (1958)
July 4 - 15h30 - "Morocco" (1930)
July 5 - 19h00 - "Macao" (1952) - Closing session with the participation of Simon Crocker, President of the John Kobal Foundation.

 The exhibition "Made in Hollywood - Fotografias da Fundação John Kobal" is presented in Portugal by the Fundação D. Luis I, with the collaboration of the City Hall of Cascais, and can be visited free of charge at the Centro Cultural de Cascais until September 1, 2013 (Tuesday - Sunday; 10h00 - 18h00).
Terra Esplêndida is responsible for the production.

 Besides his participation at the Cinemateca Portuguesa, Simon Croker will also be at the exhibition on the same day at 15h00, for a guided visit. An event that the public will not want to miss.

Monstra 2013 - Lisbon Animated Film Festival

The 12th Lisbon Animated Film Festival, Monstra 2013 (Festival de Animação de Lisboa), takes place in Lisbon between the 7th and 17th of March.
Brazil and Spain are this year's invited countries, celebrating the 105 years of Segundo de Chomon's "Hotel Eléctrico" and the 30th anniversary of Boi Árua by Chico Liberato.

 With a vast programme distributed through 11 venues, the Festival hosts presentations from 48 countries, including: Films; student and children film; super-shorts; feature films; classic feature films; best of the world sessions, and more. Workshops, master-classes, exhibitions and a concert, are also part of the programme.

 As usual, this year's edition presents Monstrinha, a specific programme adapted to its audience and organized in 3 age groups (3 to 6, 7 to 12 and >13).
Monstrinha 2013 includes 25 short and feature-lenght animations, as well as workshops where children have the opportunity to build their own tools to give their first steps into animation.

 Monstra 2013 will present 15 awards, including the Vasco Granja | SPAutores and the Production Incentive Award, sponsored by Same day Solutions SDS.

 In 2013, are also celebrated the 25th anniversary of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," the 40 years of "La Planete Sauvage" and Michel Ocelot's 15 year old "Kirikou and the Sorceress."

20th Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival

20º Curtas Vila do Conde / 2012 from Curtas CRL on Vimeo.

Since its start in 1993, the Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival has gained a deserved recognition as one of the most important short film festivals worldwide.

 In 2012, the Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary with a vast programme that includes films, exhibitions, concerts, perfomances, workshops and parties.
The Curtas Vila do Conde didn't forget the younger audience and has come up with Curtinhas, a section featuring films for kids.

 A retrospective exhibition at the Municipal Theatre, based on the precious assets resulting from the photographic coverage of the last 20 years, as well as a book that compiles interviews with many filmmakers and personalities from the contemporary cinema, collected over the past two decades, are two important details of this Festival, happening between the 7th and 15th of July 2012.

 Home of the Festival since 2009, the Municipal Theatre (Teatro Municipal) includes two auditoriums - Room 1 with 550 seats and Room 2 with 150 seats - where all the sessions and film-concerts will be held.
It will also host other main events and functions, such as the aforementioned photographic retrospective, the Curtinhas' Area, the ticket office, shop and bar.

 Besides its main home, Curtas Vila do Conde will also take place at two other spaces.
From 29 June to 11 November 2012, The Solar - Cinematic Art Gallery presents the exhibition "2012 A Kubrick Odissey", consisted of several works by contemporary creators inspired by the filmmaker.
Centro Memória – Museu Municipal de Vila do Conde will host part of the "2012 A Kubrick Odissey" Exhibition. These events have free admission.

 To learn more about ticket prices, how to get there and where to stay, consult the information page.
A free-pass that includes access to the 16th Short Film Market and a copy of the catalogue, is available for the  most assiduous public.

 The Curtas Vila do Conde – Festival Internacional de Cinema (International Film Festival) is organized by Curtas Metragens CRL, also responsible for the Portuguese Short Film Agency and Estaleiro.

IndieLisboa'12

The 9th edition of the International Independent Film Festival IndieLisboa started today and will run until 6th May, offering a vast reportoire of  independent cinema from all over the world.

Regarded as the main Portuguese film festival, IndieLisboa'12 seeks to bring to the public new films and new directors from the universe of independent cinema, focusing on the author's creativity and independence. This objective is complemented by a programme that includes a seminar, debates, master classes, special screenings and the chance for the public to meet the authors of their favourite films.

The younger audience was not forgoten. The IndieJunior includes screenings from a competitive section catered for children between three year-old and fifteen year-old,  presented to school pupils and to the general public
IndieLisboa'12 also offers a video library comprising more than 3000 submitted films for the present edition, available in specially reserved booths to accredited professionals.

Worth mentioning is Viennale's 50th anniversary this October. IndieLisboa will honor the moment with a program showing five films, one for each decade, a selection based on what organizers feel to be the Viennale's essence.
During its exhibition, the public will have the chance to learn how creativity can overcome the financial budget and present a product that can compete with some major productions; if not in terms of marketing, at least in terms of quality.

Please refer to the Information section for useful info, namely on how to purchase tickets, contacts and accomodation.

Monstra - Lisbon Animated Film Festival 2012

The 12th edition of Monstra - Lisbon Animated Film Festival (Monstra- Festival de Animação de Lisboa) will inaugurate tomorow 19th and will prolong until the 25th of this month.

With a programme of more than 100 films from Portugal, Germany, Japan and Canada, Monstra will dedicate this year's retrospective to Germany, a country with a long tradition in animation, of which the Festival will show films from the 20's to our times, covering themes such as music and satire. Some of the names include Bruno Böttge, Lotte Reiniger and Raimund Krumme, one of the invited guests of the Festival.

Having Bauhaus has a meeting poin for new and experimental artistic cultural and philosophical ideas, where names such as Hans Richter, Oskar Fischinger, Walter Rutman, Viking Eggeling and Lotte Reiniger, are a reference among many others, Germany has placed an indelible influence in the animated art of the 20th century's first half.

Following last editions, Monstra will also dedicate a retrospective to the Eastern animated films, with Japan playing this year's role.
The 2012 highlights will be "Ghost in the Shell," a Manga film from the director Mamoru Oshii and the film "Winter Days," a tribute to the recently deceased film director Kihachiro Kawamoto that will include the presence of one of the film's assistants, the film director and performer Noriko Morita.

In this year's edition, the competition is dedicated to short films, namely directed by students, and to under 2 minutes short films (Curtíssimas). Several prizes will be attributed to different categories.
Student classes will arrive from England, France and Germany, as well as young directors from many parts of the world.
The sudents competitions will be curated by Júlio Alves and Miguel Matos.

For the first time, the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA) colaborates with Monstra to create the SPA/Vasco Granja prize, with the intent of rewarding the best Portuguese animation film created in 2011. The prize has a value of €5000.

Children are an important, if not the most important, element of this Festival. For them, Monstra 12 has Monstrinha, a special programme taking place in several places that will include specially catered sessions presented by field experts who will talk about the techniques that were used on each film.
One of the highlights of Monstrinha will be the film "Bambi," that celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.
The session wil take place in the peninsula of Troia. Those deslocating from Lisbon will benefit from free transport offered by the organization.

Several parallel activities will take place during the Festival, including workshops and master classes, as well as exhbitions.

A reference partner of Monstra, is the Museu da Marioneta (Marionette Museum), where the exhibition "Marionetas de Animação," dedicated to the DEFA Studio from the ex-DDR will take place. DEFA is one of the most important European animated film studios, with over 1500 films produced in 35 years (1955 to 1990).
Through the project [RE]Animar, vistors to the museum will have the chance to play with the zoetrope and learn about its use and how although an old instrument, still triggers curiosity and continues to be used.

Celebrating 10 years of Opera Imaginaire, the organization presents a programme about music and animation, in partnership with the programme DESCOBRIR from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
A tribute to the Portuguese director José Abel, of which Opera Imaginaire was his last work and had its premiere after his death, will be made through the presentation of his originals.

The Monstra - Lisbon Animated Film Festival will take place at Cinema São Jorge, Cinema City Alvalade, Fnac, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and Museu da Marioneta, between 19th and 25th of March 2012.

Admission: 4€; with discount: 3,5€; schools: 1€

On a side note: The Monstra Festival sponsored the presentation of "Nutri Ventures - Em Busca dos 7 Reinos"(Nutri Ventures - The Quest for the 7 Kingdoms), which took place on the 17th at the Cinema São Jorge.
This is the biggest animation series ever done in Portugal and will soon start on the RTP2 and Panda channel.

Luis García Berlanga and Sacha Guitry at the Cinemateca Portuguesa

Next month, the Cinemateca Portuguesa (Portuguese Cinematheque) will present a retrospective dedicated to Luis García Berlenga and Sacha Guitry.

In partnership with the Instituto de Cinematografia y Artes Audiovisuales, the Filmoteca Española and Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture, the Cinemateca Portuguesa will present 10 films from restored copies by the Spanish film director and screenwriter Luis García Berlanga Martí.

This will be one of the first public presentations worldwide, including some famous films from the 50's: "Esa Pareja Feliz", "Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall! / Benvindo, Mister Marshall" and "Calabuch."



"El Verdugo" (1963); "La Escopeta Nacional" (1978); "Vivan los Novios" (970); "Todos a la Carcel" (1993), are some of the titles that the public will be able to enjoy from 1 to 21 of February 2012.

The retrospective dedicated to the French film director Alexandre-Pierre Georges (Sacha) Guitry, will take place from 20 of February through March, also presenting 10 films.



"Le Roman d'Un Tricheur" and "Faisons un Rêve" (1936), "Désiré" and "Quadrille" (1937/8), "Le Comédien" and "Le Diable Boiteux" (1948), "Aux Deux Colombes" (1949) and "La Poison" (1951) will be shown during the month of February.

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sacha Guitry was also a stage actor, film actor, screenwriter, and playwright of the Boulevard theatre.

To learn more about the retrospective dedicated to Luis García Berlanga and Sacha Guitry, you can call (351) 21 359 62 66.