5th Edition – 2023

The consolidation of the in‑person format

Introduction

The 5th edition of the Moinho Cine Fest marked a moment of consolidation and growth, expanding the festival to include competitive categories for nano films, micro films and short films. The programme also featured a medium‑length film and a feature film out of competition, broadening the diversity of formats presented.

Between April 14 and 16, six screening sessions were held across the Union of the Parishes of Custóias, Leça do Balio and Guifões. The Official Selection brought together 54 films from 26 countries, chosen from 590 submissions originating from 61 countries, reflecting the festival’s increasing international reach.

Award Winners

Best Film: The Roundabout — Carmen Tortosa (Spain)
Best Portuguese Film: Boca Cava Terra — Luís Campos (Portugal)
Best International Film: A terra em que pisar — Fáuston da Silva (Brazil)
Best Mobile Film: Ao Pó Voltaremos — Merli V. Guerra (Portugal)
Best Short Film: Slow Light — Kijek/Adamski (Poland)
Best Micro Film: A Fistful of Ground — Hermes Mangialardo (Italy)
Best Nano Film: In the Swim — Chris Furby (United Kingdom)
Best Children’s Film: A Magnífica Zoey — João Brás (Portugal)
Honourable Mention: Digging for Life — João Queiroga (Cameroon)
Honourable Mention: O Voo das Mantas — Bruno Carnide (Portugal)

Note: The Best Children’s Film Award was decided by the audience of the children’s competition screening held on April 15, 2023, at 10:15 a.m. at the Custóias Parish Council.

Official Selection

The Official Selection brought together films of multiple genres and origins, reflecting the diversity that defined this fifth edition.

Short Films

A Magnífica Zoey — João Brás (Portugal)
A Teoria da Evolução — Mariana Amaral Silva (Portugal)
A terra em que pisar — Fáuston da Silva (Brazil)
Amo‑te Cigarra — Francisco Lança (Portugal)
Ao Pó Voltaremos — Merli V. Guerra (Portugal)
Boca Cava Terra — Luís Campos (Portugal)
Digging for Life — João Queiroga (Cameroon)
Eternamente en mi — Gustavo Duc — music: Gaby Camino (Argentina)
I Won’t Remain Alone — Yaser Talebi (Iran)
Metropolis — Noomen Noomen (Tunisia)
Misericórdia — Gonçalo Loureiro (Portugal)
Nzila Ngola — Albino Wacava, André Cupessala, António-Pedro, Beatriz André, Biluca Quimunga, David Nahenda, Francisco Luvualo, Gelson Joaquim, Hilária Faustino, Marco M.G. António, Mendes Barão Normal, Sandra Zenany, Vanderley Lumbombo, Victorino Nambi and Zacarias Liatunga (Angola)
O Karaokê de Isadora — Thiago B. Mendonça (Brazil)
O Voo das Mantas — Bruno Carnide (Portugal)
Safe Distance — Rona Soffer — music: Evyatar Baranovitch (Israel)
Slow Light — Kijek/Adamski (Poland)
Solitude — Tami Martins and Aron Miranda (Brazil)
The Book — Farzad Foroughi (Iran)
The Roundabout — Carmen Tortosa (Spain)
Work it Class! — Pol Diggler (Spain)

Micro Films

A Balada da Raposa — Paulo César Fajardo (Portugal)
A Fistful of Ground — Hermes Mangialardo (Italy)
Dear Yeda — Renata “Renny” Pereira (United States of America)
Familiar Traces — Enrico Bellenghi and Izzy Mana (United Kingdom)
Legacy — Jack Cochran and Pamela Falkenberg — poem: Fiona Tinwei Lam (Canada)
Little Somebody — Yaroslav Bulavin — music: Alexandr Bulavin (Russia)
Lucky Jew — Sarah Gampel (Sweden)
O Emigrante — Escola Secundária de Marco de Canaveses and Casa Museu de Vilar — music: Conjunto Maria Albertina (adaptação) (Portugal)
O Vírus da Felicidade — Escola Básica e Secundária de Lousada Norte – Lustosa and Casa Museu de Vilar (Portugal)
Prelúdio — Tiago Cerveira — music: Diogo Mendes (Portugal)
Sailing Over the Sun — Miguel M. Matias (Portugal)
Sorry For Your Loss — Kirsten Lewis and Kate Munro (South Africa)
Spheres — Anais Chic (France)
Taquicardia — Fábio Poço (Portugal)
The Enemy — Shapxo (Ukraine)
The Lion and the Eagle — Bruno Miguel Resende (Portugal)
Uma Mulher com uma Câmara — Tiago Iúri (Portugal)
Unpacking — Jorj Jorburj and Igor Darovskyi (Ukraine)
Unstoppable — Ahmed Reggad (Algeria)
Ups and Downs — Shi Wei (China)
Woodpecker — Fatemeh Askarpour (Iran)
World and Me — Kudratillayev Eldor (Uzbekistan)

Nano Films

A Peculiar Place — Anna Grigorian (Armenia and Canada)
Corpus — Tiago Cerveira, Safire Hikari, Teosson Chau and Ricardo Ladeira (Portugal)
Free to Swim — Okeremute Ovuorho (Nigeria)
Hanabi — Jennie Feyen (Australia)
In the Swim — Chris Furby (United Kingdom)
Inner Speaker — Adriana Sofia Afonso (Portugal)
SEMTÍTULO — Miguel Ângelo Ferraz (Portugal)
Turning Point — Xavier Garcia (Poland)
Vegetative — Hannah Papacek Harper (France)

Out of Competition

Do Outro Lado do Pensamento — Pedro Branco (Portugal)
No País de Alice — Rui Simões (Portugal)
Passado, Presente e Futuro — Grupo Desportivo Recreativo e Cultural Alto de Avilhó (Portugal)

Jury

Joana Nunes

Born in Lisbon, she began her artistic path in childhood, taking part in theatre classes and school projects from the age of five. At 15, she joined Arte 6, an acting academy directed by actress Thaís de Campos. She worked in television in productions such as Anjo Selvagem and Ana e os 7, gaining wider recognition as Sofia in the series Morangos com Açúcar in 2004. Since 2014 she has lived between Madrid and Barcelona, participating in projects such as the short film Leave out all the Rest, while combining ongoing training with acting projects and work in marketing and sales.

Luís Miranda

Filmmaker, independent producer, screenwriter and lecturer, author of 130 cinematic and audiovisual works in short and feature formats. He has received two Best Short Film Awards and six Honourable Mentions for Directing, accumulating numerous official selections and nominations in over one hundred festivals. He has six commercially distributed films and more than 750 production credits. Founder of Miranda Filmes and Hiperfocal Filmes, he teaches Film and Video at Escola Artística de Soares dos Reis and Escola Superior Artística do Porto. He holds a Master’s degree in Contemporary Artistic Practices from FBAUP.

Roberto Merino

Born in 1952 in Concepción, Chile, he studied Mathematics before dedicating himself fully to theatre. After the Military Coup, he went into exile in the Federal Republic of Germany and, from 1975 onwards, in Porto. He served as Artistic Director of Teatro Experimental do Porto until 1978, returning to the company on two further occasions. He worked in the Cultural Services of Funchal City Council and with the Experimental Theatre Group of Funchal. Since 1982 he has directed the Theatre Degree at Escola Superior Artística do Porto and has taught at Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti. He also taught at Balleteatro Escola Profissional for three decades.