MotelX 2022: BODIES BODIES BODIES Kicks Off This Year's Festival

16th edition - 6 - 12 September - Lisbon | Cinema São Jorge

 

MOTELX - Lisbon International Horror Film Festival

 

COMPLETE PROGRAMME 16th edition

 

Generation Z in danger, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” (A24) opens MOTELX 2022 and, in a world premiere, “O Corpo Aberto”, with Victoria Guerra and José Fidalgo.

 

Seven days and more than 100 films make up the historical programme of MOTELX’s 16th edition, with a journey through the universe of horror from the most diverse geographies, including world and national premieres, cine-concerts, the launch of a new book, masterclasses with masters of genre cinema, workshops, a programme dedicated to children, and a tour of the past and present in Portuguese horror production.

 

The beginning of the 16th edition of MOTELX is just around the corner. From 6 to 12 September, at Cinema São Jorge and in other notable venues of the Portuguese capital, the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival will celebrate genre cinema in its multiple aspects and, as always, cross it with several artistic expressions. This year, illustrious guests such as the master of Italian horror Dario Argento or the American filmmaking duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson will mingle with the audience during the seven long-awaited days.

 

“Bodies Bodies Bodies” (USA, 2022) will open this year’s edition (6 September). Directed by Halina Reijn, the second feature film by this also Dutch actress is a Generation Z slasher about a group of rich young people who plan a party that goes terribly wrong.

 

In the Room Service section, besides the already announced “Dark Glasses”, presented by the director himself, the mythical maestro Dario Argento, at MOTELX (8 September), or “Final Cut”, by Michel Hazanavicius, there’s “Something in the Dirt”, a film directed, written and starred by the Americans Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, who will be present at the Festival. A unique opportunity to meet this respected team of independent filmmakers, who have recently ventured into the mainstream market (with "Synchronic" and the new Marvel series, "Moon Knight"). Also not to be missed are “Polaris” (Canada, 2022), by Kirsten Carthew, a post-apocalyptic film inspired by eco-feminism and the urgency for a significant cultural and sustainable change, characterized by the director as the “Mad Max” of the Arctic, and “Candy Land” (USA, 2022), by John Swab, a hellish road trip about sex, religion and violence. “Satan's Slaves 2: Communion” (Indonesia, 2022), by Joko Anwar, “Ashkal” (France, Tunisia, Qatar, 2022), by Youssef Chebbi, “Saloum” (Senegal, 2021), by Jean Luc Herbulot, and “Parsley” (Dominican Republic, 2022), by José María Cabral, are mandatory on the bill too.

 

With a great bet on female directors, this year, the Méliès d’argent Award - Best European Feature Film highlights the world premiere of the Iberian production “O Corpo Aberto” (Spain, Portugal, 2022), by Ángeles Huerta, a folk horror with Portuguese actors Victoria Guerra and José Fidalgo, “Nightsiren" (Slovakia, Czech Republic, 2022), by Tereza Nvotová, and "A Banquet" (United Kingdom, 2021), by Ruth Paxton, her first feature film. To complete the list of European films in competition, which includes the already announced “Os Demónios do Meu Avô” (Portugal, 2022), by Nuno Beato, “Criança Lobo” (Portugal, 2022) - in its world premiere -, by Frederico Serra, and “Wolfkin” (Luxembourg, 2022), by Jacques Molitor, there is also the psychological horror of the highly disturbing “Speak No Evil” (Denmark, Netherlands, 2022), by Christian Tafdrup.

 

Other must-see moments of MOTELX’s 16th edition are the screening of “Hotel da Noiva” (Portugal, 2007), by Bernardo Cabral - a legendary film shot in the Azores -, in a Special Screenings cult session, “Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess” (Italy, 2021), by Manlio Gomarasca and Massimiliano Zanin - a documentary about the versatile Italian director Joe D'Amato -, in the Doc Horror section, and “The Seed” (UK, 2021), by Sam Walker, with “Deadstream” (USA, 2022), by Joseph and Vanessa Winter, in the return of the Double Bill to the Festival’s programme.

 

On 10 September, MOTELX proposes a special evening with the FILMar project, between Cinemateca Portuguesa and Cinema São Jorge, where the fears of the sea will be faced through five films (two features and three shorts) and a debate, with the support of the EEA Grants 2020-2024 program and the collaboration of the Norwegian Embassy in Portugal. Days before, 7 September, at Teatro São Luiz, in partnership with Casa Bernardo Sassetti, the first Portuguese horror film, “Os Crimes de Diogo Alves” (1911), by João Tavares (1883-1971), will be screened, accompanied by an original score by Bernardo Sassetti (1970-2012) and interpreted by a combo from the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, conducted by professor Desidério Lázaro. After the cine-concert, a conversation about the process of composition for silent films, with a panel moderated by Inês Laginha and formed, besides Lázaro, by guitarist Tó Trips and pianist Filipe Raposo.

 

At Cinema São Jorge, the new association of women working in cinema and audiovisual, MUTIM, will provoke a debate based on the first film directed by a woman in Portugal, "Três Dias Sem Deus" (1946), by Bárbara Virgínia (1923-2015), with the participation of Luísa Sequeira, author of the road movie documentary about the filmmaker who stood out in the middle of a dictatorship.

 

MOTELquiz will also be back at the Festival (8 September), an epic night of trivia to test your knowledge about horror cinema and pop culture, with prizes and surprises in between (the entry is free, but pre-registration is required through e-mail at inscricoes@motelx.org).

 

To guarantee the best possible start to this event, MOTELX offers three unmissable and free admission proposals at the Warm-Up, with the support of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, from 1 to 3 September: “Symphony of Darkness: 100 Years of Nosferatu”, an immersive sound and visual experience, by the theater company Primeiros Sintomas, which celebrate the centenary of F.W. Murnau’s oeuvre (1 September, at Convento São Pedro de Alcântara), the New Zealand mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows (2014), by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, in the open-air cinema screening (2 September, Largo Trindade Coelho), and “O Fauno das Montanhas” (Portugal, 1926), by Manuel Luís Vieira (1885-1952), in a FILMar cine-concert, with music performed by Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (3 September, Jardim do Museu de Lisboa - Palácio Pimenta).

 

In the words of the artistic directors Pedro Souto and João Monteiro, “16 years since the foundation of MOTELX, we can finally say that the big highlight of this edition is Portuguese horror cinema”. The book “MOTELX's Lost Room: The Films of Portuguese Horror (1911-2006)” will be accompanied by “the screening of silent, old and current films, with the premiere of “Os Demónios do Meu Avô” and the world premieres of “Criança Lobo” and the co-production with Spain “O Corpo Aberto””. “If we add the return of the maestro of giallo cinema, Dario Argento, and the screening of the best horror films of today, we will undoubtedly have a great MOTELX, this year without pandemic restrictions”, they conclude.