Featuring in the 33rd edition of the festival, ‘Sol Menor,’ directed by André Silva Santos, has been hailed as the best film in the national competition. The jury praised its “rare sensitivity and subtle emotional construction.”
This accolade qualifies ‘Sol Menor’ for Oscar nomination consideration in the Best Fiction Short Film category for 2026.
The film has also been selected by the festival for potential nominations at the European Film Academy Awards 2026 and is eligible for the Ibershorts 2026 at the Malaga Film Festival in Spain.
‘Sol Menor’ marks André Silva Santos’ debut in fiction filmmaking, following the story of a music teacher balancing flute lessons and mourning his wife’s death, who faces a dilemma after a visit from his brother.
In international competition, Romanian director Vasile Todinca’s ‘Alisveris’ won the best film award, also qualifying for an Oscar nomination in the same category as ‘Sol Menor.’
The jury noted ‘Alisveris’ for its “critical and precise vision of the contemporary world,” following its screening at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week in May.
Among this year’s Curtas Vila do Conde awards, the Audience Award in the Portuguese competition went to ‘Porque Hoje é Sábado,’ by Alice Eça Guimarães. This animated short explores the challenges faced by a woman trying to balance domestic life and the need for escape, according to its synopsis.
Alice Eça Guimarães, who co-directed the films ‘Entre Sombras’ (2018) and ‘Amélia & Duarte’ (2015) with Mónica Santos, sees ‘Porque Hoje é Sábado’ qualify for the Ibershorts in Malaga.
Additional awards announced include Best Animation for Austria’s ‘World at Stake’ by Susanna Flock, Adrian Jonas Haim, and Jona Kleinlein, Best Documentary for the UK’s ‘Being John Smith’ by John Smith, and Best Fiction for ‘What Mary Didn’t Know’ (France, Greece, Sweden) by Konstantina Kotzamani.
From the international competition, the Audience Award was awarded to ‘Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado’ by Natalia León.
The Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival concludes on Sunday.
This edition featured retrospectives on American filmmaker Whit Stillman and Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel, ahead of the Portuguese cinema release of ‘A uma terra desconhecida.’
French director Maureen Fazendeiro, based in Portugal, premiered her latest short film ‘Les Habitants’ at the festival, showcasing previous works ‘Black Sun’ (2019) and ‘Motu Maeva’ (2014), and the feature film ‘Diários de Otsoga’ (2021), co-directed with Miguel Gomes.
In the cine-concert series, noteworthy performances included those by American artists Lee Ranaldo (formerly of Sonic Youth) and John Carroll Kirby, as well as French artist Felicia Atkinson.
