Curtas Vila do Conde 2025
12.07.-20.07.2025
From 16th to the 19th July I was able to be present at the festival Curtas Vila do Conde, near Porto, for the second time of my showing a film there. The festival covered three nights in a Hotel, which was a new chain Hotel, fairly standard, nothing special but comfortable. It was very easy to reach from the metro, which was also very easy to navigate from the airport. From the Hotel I could walk about 20 minutes to the main venue of the festival, the Teatro Municipal.
The first evening I only arrived at the festival quite late as my flight arrived in the evening, so the guest office had already closed. However I was helped by a very friendly staff member who managed to contact the right person to make sure I was able to enter events without my pass.
That evening there was a special party and screening event at a private venue some distance from the town, currently being run as an artists residency space for analogue film workshops. The festival ran free transportation to and from the venue. It was a little late in the day (12 midnight) when the screening of the films began, but it was an impressive example of what could be achieved in the short amount of time that the filmmakers lived and worked together in this intensive residency. The event was a fun occasion and a great chance to meet fellow filmmakers, people from various festival and other film backgrounds.
The next day was the day of my program, preceded by a filmmakers lunch at a nearby restaurant. It seems this time these lunches were only the filmmakers screened on that day, which made for a slightly more intimate setup. It was again a nice chance to meet new faces and get to talk a bit about their work before seeing their films later.
The screening itself was also quite intimate in scale but still a good turn out for a festival in a relatively small location. It was a little sad that not so many stayed around for the Q&A, which was sometimes a factor in other screenings I noticed.
However, our Q&A, hosted by one of the organisers of Curtas, was thoughtful and enjoyable, perhaps even because of its reduced audience. We were able to have quite direct, perhaps even more honest discussions, which were also simply structured, and prompted by just the right amount of questions from our host. There were also some nice exchanges with the audience where I felt I could speak more directly to people, than in a large theatre. As my film has a somewhat more niche appeal it was both humbling and uplifting to hear some positive and honest reflections on my film from the few who stayed.
The final day I had some time to enjoy the local beaches and explore the town a little more before meeting up with friends, saying some farewells and finally having time to check out the exhibition at the Solar film gallery, where there were also free drinks at 5pm.
Vila do Conde did offer some chances to connect with people, a few new contacts were made and on the whole there was some interesting programming. The atmosphere and nature of the location of the festival gives a special warmth and pleasure as well as some sense of genuine critical engagement that one appreciates quietly upon reflection.