Maria de Medeiros honored at Guadalajara Film Festival

On Saturday, during the closing ceremony, actress and director Maria de Medeiros received the Guest of Honor award, in recognition of her career.

The Portuguese actress, known for her roles in films such as 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Henry & June', highlighted the "good vibes" and the love she has for Mexico, where she filmed 'Duas Fridas' and completed post-production on her most recent film, 'Aos Nossos Filhos'.

"Mexico is a great nation of culture, art and cinema, and it is a reference. All the wonderful Mexican directors who continue to contribute with extraordinary creativity to world cinema - the fact that this cinema is inspired by Portuguese cinema is something that moves us deeply" , said Medeiros, upon receiving the award.

Portugal was the guest country at the Guadalajara International Film Festival, with the presence of more than 30 Portuguese films, including films that Maria de Madeiros starred in, such as 'Silvestre', by João César Monteiro, and that she directed, such as 'Capitães de Abril'.

The 40th edition had a special section dedicated to Portuguese cinema, "from classics to more contemporary filmography" , including films by Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira and José Álvaro Morais.

The program also included the screening of the animated film 'My Grandfather's Demons', by Nuno Beato, and an exhibition with the miniature characters used in the stop-motion animation process, plus a masterclass by director João Gonzalez, author of the award-winning "Ice Merchants".

The selection of more than 30 films that provide an overview of Portuguese cinema, with documentaries and fiction in short and feature length, includes, among others, 'A Fábrica de Nada' (2017), by Pedro Pinho, 'Trás-os-Montes' (1976), by António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro, 'Maria do Mar' (1930), by Leitão de Barros, 'A Noite' (1999) by Regina Pessoa, and 'As Fado Bicha' (2024), by Justine Lemahieu.

'A Savana e a Montanha', a film by Paulo Carneiro that addresses the struggle of the transmontane community of Covas do Barroso against lithium exploration in the region, was nominated for the award for best Ibero-American documentary feature film.

In this section the winner was 'Tardes de solidão', by the Spanish Albert Serra, co-produced by Portugal, about Spanish bullfighting.

'Black Gold', by Japanese director Takashi Sugimoto, produced by Portuguese director Uma Pedra no Sapato and filmed in India, about a commercial tradition of black hair for women, was also in the running in this category.

The Ibero-American short film competition featured 'Flying Carpet', a film directed and produced by Justin Amorim, "based on one of the many true stories of the biggest case of institutionalized pedophilia in Portugal".

'Dreaming with Lions', by Paolo Marinou-Blanco, a black comedy about euthanasia, was in the official section of Ibero-American fiction feature films.

The film 'Duas vezes João Liberada', by Paula Tomás Marques, about a fictional character who could have existed: someone persecuted and marginalized during the Inquisition for having led a life that did not correspond to the norms of the time regarding sexuality and gender, was nominated for the Maguey Prize, which celebrates LGBT cinematography.

The film 'Two ships', by the American McKinley Benson, co-produced by Cola Animation, was a candidate for the award for best animated short film, and 'La memoria de las mariposas', by the Peruvian Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski, co-produced by Portuguese Oublaum Filmes, competed for the award for socio-environmental cinema.

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