From 19-26 June, Espinho will become the epicentre for movie screenings and film-industry events in Portugal, as FEST - New Directors, New Films returns for its 19th edition.

War Pony by Gina Gammell and Riley Keough opens the festival’s film programme, which this year presents a total of 12 first or second international features in its Special Screenings and Golden Lynx Competition combined. One of the highlights in the short-film categories is the extensive showcase of Portuguese cinema in the National Grand Prix section, which includes 23 new works, the largest selection ever to be presented at the festival. Besides this, FEST retains its Silver Lynx and Nexxt sections, as well as screenings for younger audiences, in a strand dubbed FESTinha. This year’s Be Kind Rewind, the retrospective section, will showcase works directed by Claudia Llosa. The Peruvian director will also attend the gathering as one of the many experts present in FEST PRO, the festival’s industry programme, to give a master class on filmmaking. This forms part of its main master-class section, Training Ground, which will host informative sessions with renowned guests and experts, including Carlos Reygadas, Lone Scherfig, Naomi Rapace and Brenda Chapman, as well as Rui Poças and Nuno Lopes, amongst many others. In a total of 20 master classes, Training Ground will address a diverse set of subjects with attendees, from screenwriting to colour correction, from editing to acting, and from different sources of funding to many other topics.

Focusing more specifically on subjects related to film directing, the festival will once again host the Director’s Hub, a platform designed to create networking opportunities and facilitate knowledge exchange. Three different panels will take place this year, on how to navigate the festival circuit, the role of an assistant director, and a discussion on inclusivity and diversity in filmmaking.

FEST PRO also retains its space dedicated to providing support, financing and co-production opportunities for in-development film projects, Pitching Forum. Divided into four sections, for features, short films and series projects, this year the sidebar will welcome 24 works in progress, set to be pitched to producers, festival programmers, sales agents, distributors and many other industry professionals.

A cross-sectional event is the brand-new FEST - Music Walk With Me: a six-day programme with concerts and showcases by artists from all over the globe who either collaborate with or want to be involved with the film and TV scene. The Legendary Tigerman and Sensible Soccers are two examples of Portuguese talent present in the first-ever line-up of Music Walk With Me. It’s a section that feels like a natural follow-up to last year’s new addition to the FEST PRO programme, the Sound and Music Hub, aptly dedicated to sound and music in films. This year, four different master classes will cover an array of topics that range from sound mixing and design to film scoring, music editing and music supervision.