10/06/2024 - Nelson Makengo’s feature debut has received two trophies, while Gold Songs by Ico Costa snagged the Best Portuguese Feature Film Award

Portugal’s IndieLisboa recently wrapped up its successful 21st edition. More than 30,000 people partook in the festival’s activities over the course of 11 days. As this edition came to an end, the winners of the competitive sections, as well as the industry awards, were revealed.

Nelson Makengo’s Rising up at Night [+see also:
film review
interview: Nelson Makengo
film profile] stood out as the big winner of the International Competition. The jury, composed of Charlotte Serrand, Fernanda Fragateiro and Kamal Aljafari, rewarded it twofold: Makengo’s debut feature received the TV Cine Special Award (comprising rights acquisition for Portugal) and the Feature Film Grand Prize City of Lisbon (a monetary award of €15,000). According to the jury’s statement, it is “an urgent and mesmerising film that portrays the life of communities living in darkness, a strong metaphor for life lived in extreme conditions”. The Special Mention of the Feature Film Grand Prize City of Lisbon went to The Human Surge 3 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Eduardo Williams, “for the immersive and singular experience artfully achieved through innovative ways of exploring the group experience between human reality and nature”.

In the National Competition, Leonardo Mouramateus and Margarida Gil split the NOVA FCSH Award for Best Director. This was “a unanimous decision” by the jury, made up of Dounia Sichov, Nuno Galopim and Roger Koza, which thus awarded both Greice (also the Smart7 network Portuguese-nominated film) and Hands in the Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] for their helmers’ directorial achievements. The main prize, the MAX Award for Best Portuguese Feature Film, went to Ico Costa’s Gold Songs [+see also:
film review
film profile], “for the gentle portraits of social bonds in a community facing exodus as a way to survive”. Gold Songs also received a Special Mention for a non-official IndieLisboa award (the Universities Award for Best Portuguese Feature Film). Banzo by Margarida Cardoso was also a highlight in these non-official award categories, winning both the Universities Award and the Árvore da Vida Award.

This year, IndieLisboa held a new edition of its Industry event. One of the numerous activities on offer was the Portuguese Film Fund, which aims to support the post-production of Portuguese films. This year’s jury consisted of Dovilė Grigaliūnaitė, Aurélien Marsais and Nuno Galopim. One of the highlights was Maria Inês Gonçalves’ short film La Dormiente, which received two awards: financial support via the Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies Prize, as well as aid for the creation of original music thanks to the GDA Foundation Prize.

Lisbon Screenings are also a part of IndieLisboa’s Industry event. Here, a distribution prize was given out by the jury (Rita Correia, Ramiro Ledo and Alexandra Ferraz) to Infinito Infinito, a film directed by Mariana Caló and Francisco Queimadela. This is an award that is the result of a collaboration between international distributor Portugal Film and national distributor No Comboio.

IndieLisboa returns for its 22nd edition from 1-11 May 2025.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Feature Film Grand Prize City of Lisbon
Rising up at Night [+see also:
film review
interview: Nelson Makengo
film profile] - Nelson Makengo (DR Congo/Belgium/Germany/Burkina Faso/Qatar)
Special Mention
The Human Surge 3 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Eduardo Williams (Argentina/Portugal/Brazil/Netherlands/Taiwan/Hong Kong/Sri Lanka/Peru)

TVCINE Special Award
Rising up at Night - Nelson Makengo

EMEL Short Film Grand Prize
The Oasis I Deserve - Inès Sieulle (France, short film)

Special Jury Prizes (ex-aequo)
Matta and Matto - Bianca Caderas, Kerstin Zemp (Switzerland)
The House Is on Fire, Might as Well Get Warm - Mouloud Aït Liotna (France/Algeria)

MAX Award for Best Portuguese Feature Film
Gold Songs [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Ico Costa (Portugal/France)

NOVA FSCH Award for Best Director in a Portuguese Film (ex-aequo)
Greice - Leonardo Mouramateus (Portugal/Brazil)
Hands in the Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Margarida Gil (Portugal)

Award for Best Portuguese Short Film
So Small, Looking All Grown Up - Tânia Dinis (Portugal, short film)

The Yellow Color New Talent Award
Never More Is Too Much Time - Bruno Ferreira (Portugal, short film)
Special Mention
Kudibanguela - Bernardo Magalhães (Portugal, short film)

Brand New Award
Campos Belos - David Ferreira (Portugal, short film)
Special Mention
Tanganhom - Vítor Covelo (Portugal, short film)

Silvestre Award for Best Feature Film
La Chimera [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Alice Rohrwacher (Italy/France/Switzerland)

Escola das Artes Silvestre Award for Best Short Film
Zima - Kasumi Ozeki, Tomek Popakul (Poland, short film)
Special Mention
Two Wars - Jan Ijäs (Finland, short film)

IndieMusic Award
Yours Truly, Fear - Telmo Soares (Portugal)

Amnesty International Award
There Is No Friend’s House - Abbas Taheri (Iran/France, short film)

Árvore da Vida Award
Banzo - Margarida Cardoso (Portugal)
Special Mention
Tales of Oblivion - Dulce Fernandes (Portugal)

MUTIM Award
Clotilde - Maria João Lourenço (Portugal, short film)
Special Mention
We Made a Film - Total Alves (Portugal, short film)

QueerArtLab Award
Cidade; Campo [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Juliana Rojas (Brazil/Germany/France)

Schools Jury Award for Short Film
Kudibanguela - Bernardo Magalhães
Special Mention
Nocturne for a Forest - Catarina Vasconcelos (Portugal, short film)

Universities Award for Best Portuguese Film
Banzo - Margarida Cardoso
Special Mention
Gold Songs - Ico Costa

Audience Awards

Feature Film
No Other Land [+see also:
film review
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile] - Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor (Palestine/Norway)

Short Film
We Made a Film - Total Alves

IndieJunior
Baking with Boris - Maša Avramović (France/Switzerland/Croatia, short film)

IndieLisboa Industry awards

Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies Award
La Dormiente - Maria Inês Gonçalves (Portugal, short film)

Digital Mix Music and Image Award

Feature film
Bubaque Fishermen - Pedro Florêncio (Portugal)

Short film
A Memoir of Anticipation - João Sarantopoulos (Portugal, short film)

GDA Foundation Award
The Green Language - Guilherme Daniel (short film)
La Dormiente - Maria Inês Gonçalves (Portugal, short film)

The Yellow Color Award
A Memoir of Anticipation - João Sarantopoulos (Portugal, short film)

Lisbon Screenings - No Comboio Award
Infinito Infinito - Mariana Caló, Francisco Queimadela