Hope is the theme of this year’s FEST - New Directors, New Films Festival, as the festival returns for its 17th edition with a traditional format of physical film screenings and Masterclasses in Espinho, between October 4 and 11.

Starting off with Catherine Corsini’s The Divide [+lee también:
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entrevista: Catherine Corsini
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entrevista: Chema García Ibarra
ficha de la película] by Chema Garcia Ibarra, the festival sets the tone for a selection of multi-awarded films in its feature film competition. The Golden Lynx Competition features 7 fiction films and 3 documentaries, including Valdimar Jóhannsson's Lamb [+lee también:
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entrevista: Valdimar Jóhannsson
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entrevista: Emmanuel Marre y Julie Lec…
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ficha de la película], and Enforcement by Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid.

The Sylver Lynx Competition has a selection of more than 50 short films split into Fiction, Documentary, Animation and Experimental sections, welcoming back directors like Laura Rantanen, winner of FEST's Sylver Lynx Best Documentary award in 2019, and Tomek Popakul, winner of the Best Animation award in 2020. Portuguese short films are highlighted as per usual in the National Grand Prix Competition, which has expanded to three sessions this year, showcasing a total of 22 films. Bruno Carnide returns to the festival with O Voo das Mantas, as do Rúben Sevivas with Sobrevoo, Alberto Seixas with Hunting Day, Matilde Calado with Como Gado and Edgar Morais with We Won't Forget. But this selection of films from the new generation of Portuguese filmmakers also includes festival debuts, such as Musgo, from the duo Alexandra Guimarães and Gonçalo L. Almeida, and Filipe Melo's O Lobo Solitário. Emerging international talents will be highlighted in the NEXXT Competition: an 8-sessions programme that include works from institutions like FAMU, Film Akademy Vienna, Le Fresnoy and UCLA.

Focusing on new formats, FEST will have its first TV series premiere: two episodes of The Sugar Captains, directed by FEST veteran Ricardo Leite and produced by Maria & Mayer, will be screened at the festival as part of its new section called Echoes. In other non-competitive sections, FEST will have a focus on cinema from Cataluña, in the Flavors of the World programme, and a retrospective on Isabel Coixet’s oeuvre, in the Be Kind Rewind programme. The latter will have screenings in Porto (Cinema Trindade) and Lisbon (Culturgest), maintaining last year's strategy to expand the festival to territories besides Espinho. Isabel Coixet will also be part of FEST's Industry Programme, which holds a physical edition this year, with Irvine Welsh, Tony Grisoni, Dörte Schneider, Tetsuo Nagata and Eddy Joseph as some of the confirmed guests. The festival will also showcase a special selection of feature and short films online, between October 11 and 18, on Filmin's streaming platform.