Launched in 2007, MotelX - Lisbon International Horror Film Festival (9-15 September) is now in its 19th edition, hosted at the historic Cinema São Jorge. Over the years, the festival has invited Dario Argento, George Romero, John Landis, Roger Corman, Alejandro Jodorowsky and more for master classes and workshops. Meanwhile, the gathering has expanded to incorporate inventive sections dedicated to horror retrospectives and films by emerging auteurs alike.

Cineuropa sat down with MotelX artistic directors Pedro Souto and João Monteiro to speak about the origins of the festival, the unique complexities of putting on a fantastic film gathering and what’s new for this year’s edition.

Cineuropa: Congratulations on nearly two decades of MotelX. What first brought about the idea of creating a horror-specific film festival in Lisbon?
João Monteiro: We are from the generation that had video stores. Lisbon in the 1980s was a particularly boring place, but we had lots of old cinemas and, of course, the video store. Our culture back then was going there. We met each other and shared an interest in horror films, so we started watching midnight screenings and going to festivals like Fantasporto in Portugal and Sitges in Spain. Then, we developed this idea of doing something that didn’t exist here: midnight screenings and a film club devoted to horror films. It went super well and was always sold out, so we decided to try to do a festival that was non-competitive.

The first ten years of the event were focused on bringing at least one master of horror and screening films from every part of the world. We wanted to prove to Portuguese cinema that you can have horror films from the Middle East or Africa, for instance – Portuguese horror cinema wasn’t talked about. That’s why we also focused on creating a short-film competition, which is now at almost 100 submissions a year. Something is changing in the way that young filmmakers look at horror.

What is unique or new at this year’s edition of the festival?
JM: We are focused on bringing along new auteurs like Ari Aster and also very much on Portuguese films, especially features. Every year, we have at least one, which is very important and gratifying for us. However, the biggest novelty this year has to do with a new prize: the Noémia Delgado Award for Outstanding Women in Horror. It’s a way we can pay homage to Noémia Delgado, as she was a great pioneer of filmmaking in Portugal – totally unknown, but she embodies what we’re trying to do with this award, which is to bring forward forgotten pioneers and also highlight new visionaries.

How is MotelX in touch with the landscape of European cinema, more broadly?
Pedro Souto: In 2011, we entered the Méliès International Festivals Federation. The year after, we started doing the Méliès d'Argent Competition for Best European Fantastic Short Film. A couple of years later, we also started doing the Méliès d’Argent Competition for Features, which was obviously a way to bring more exposure to European films. Every year for many decades, we have been invaded by productions from the USA, Canada and the UK. We know we can count on these, but sometimes Europe suffers a bit as a result. As members of the federation, we also try to promote some of the European works, as it also makes sense to us in terms of [uplifting] Portuguese cinema in general. Finding parallels between productions is easier in Europe – I think this year, we have the second Greek film ever at our festival. It’s cool to highlight movies like this because then Portugal can also be in touch with a country [doing similar things].

MotelX is subtitled as the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival. From a programming perspective, how do you conceptualise your selection compared to, say, a broader fantastical or genre-film festival?
JM: That’s been our big discussion over the last few years. What are the limits of horror? Is a war film inherently a horror film? Is post-apocalyptic sci-fi a genre of its own – and it can be more horror than sci-fi, right? This conversation exists also because of the context of Portuguese cinema. We have noticed that one of the reasons why Portugal doesn’t have a lot of horror movie lovers is because there are a lot of misconceptions. Every year, we have people who come to us and say, “I never thought about this film as horror – it makes sense.” We know that we have to take a few risks with some titles that do not immediately feel like horror because of the pacing or structure, but as programmers, we don’t just want to show the same things. We also want to provoke discussion. We ourselves are almost 50 now, and we don’t understand what an 18-year-old wants, because he doesn’t have our history of watching films.

PS: That’s why we’ve been having programmers that are younger – that’s really important, too. It’s about building a community that shares not only a passion for the genre, but also the emotions that come with being there, watching screenings together.