The twentieth edition of this year's MOTELX film festival is drawing to a close today. The award winners were announced yesterday, so it is time for a bit of catch up.
The Méliès d’argent Awards for the best European short film and feature film went to Fredrik S. Hana's Mancave and Kasper Kalie's No Rest For The Wicked respectively. Locally, It's Chico Time!, by João Severo and Rafael Sá Carneiro, won the MOTELX Award for Best Portuguese Horror Short Film. The audice award went to Argentine thriller Gunman, from Cris Tapia Marchiori.
Congrats to all the winners. They are featured in the gallery below.
MOTELX 20 Years | (20th Edition)Winners of MOTELX 2026 | Awards“It's Chico Time!”, by João Severo and Rafael Sá Carneiro, won the MOTELX Award for Best Portuguese Horror Short Film, and “Consumido”, by [carrozo], received an Honorable Mention. The Méliès d’argent Award for Best European Short Film went to “Mancave”, by Norwegian director Fredrik S. Hana. “No Rest for the Wicked”, by Danish director Kasper Kalle, was honored with the Méliès d’argent Award for Best European Feature Film. As for the MOTELX Award for Best Portuguese Horror Screenplay, it went to Miguel Monteiro Rico for “Hóspede”, and there was also an Honorable Mention for “A Ostra”, by Pedro Garrido. “Lexi”, a Spanish-produced film directed by Portuguese filmmaker Bruno Simões, won the Lobo Mau Award. And the Audience Award went to “Gunman”, by Argentine director Cris Tapia Marchiori.Another MOTELX is drawing to a close. And this one was truly special, driven by the celebration of the festival’s 20th anniversary. The longest edition ever, spanning 11 days at Cinema São Jorge and Cinemateca Portuguesa, once again celebrated horror in all its many forms and guises, both inside and outside the cinema theatres. As the festival comes to an end, it is time to announce the Winners of the 20th edition. Alongside the awards, we are also pleased to announce next year’s dates: horror will return from 7 to 13 September 2027.IT'S NOT OVER YETThere are still a few surprises in store for MOTELX’s 20th anniversary. Tomorrow, Sunday, September 13, highlights include the MOTELX–FilmTwist Surprise Screening (9:15 p.m.), as well as “Colony” by Yeon Sang-ho (4:00 p.m.) and “Pinocchio: Unstrung” by Rhys Frake-Waterfield (11:45 p.m.).