The film festival concluded on Saturday, and the awards were announced on Sunday, with the jury awarding the best short film prize to “Tapete Voador,” which is “based on one of the several true stories of the largest case of institutionalized pedophilia in Portugal.”
According to Justin Amorim’s production company, who is also the director, this film “arises from the in-depth investigation of the Casa Pia case,” a judicial process stemming from journalistic investigation in 2002 into sexual abuse of students at the century-old state educational institution in Lisbon.
In the short film, Ricardo is a teenager “looking to escape the harsh reality that suffocates him and those around him, preventing him from taking flight,” as the synopsis states.
The film features performances by Ivo Arroja, Joana Bernardo, Inês Castel-Branco, Gonçalo Coré, among others.
‘Tapete Voador’ features cinematography by Leonor Teles, original music by Alba Baptista, and script consultation by journalist Felícia Cabrita, whose journalistic work brought this case to public attention.
The short film has already been shown at various festivals, including those in Guadalajara (Mexico) and Curtas de Vila do Conde.
According to the production company Promenade Films, ‘Tapete Voador’ will be screened in November at the Queer Porto Festival and the Festival Entre Olhares, in Lisbon.
