QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM INDIELISBOA

Founded in 2004 and now in its third decade of existence, IndieLisboa has become synonymous with thought-provoking and innovative cinema. This is where Lisboetas and international film lovers hungry for off-stream movies head every year for scrumptious movies from across the festival circuit in the past 12 months, as well as entirely new and unforeseen films (the festivals boasts many world premieres, particularly form the Portuguese and the Spanish-speaking world). The selection is compiled through a combination of scouting and open call.

The festival, which took place for 12 days between May 1st and May 11th, included a vast array of Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) as wells as feature and short films from all corners of the planet. It attracted crowds nearing 30,000 people, as well as some filmmakers, industry pudints and a couple of illustrious international guests (such as Chinese documentarist Wang Bing, who we missed just by a couple of days). Ten international feature films and 10 Portuguese films represented the main competitive categories. Other section included Novissimos (“super young”, in free translation), Silvestre (“wild vegetation”, IndieMusic, Smart7, a retrospective of Bulgarian director Binka Jeliaskova, and even films in a pool (for film-lovers seeking a little refreshment, and seeking some relief from the occasionally sweltering May temperatures in the Portuguese capital).

You can read our full coverage of IndieLisboa by clicking here.In total, it includes 30 pieces: 12 written in loco (with a strong focus on Portuguese cinema) and 18 films previously covered in other events, retagged and boosted.

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The big winners

Below is a list of the feature films that won some of the most significant prizes. They belong to various different sections of the event, Just click on the film title in order to accede to our review, where available.

• The City of Lisbon Feature Film Grand Prize: On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni);
• TVCine Channels Special Jury Prize: The Most Beautiful Village in the World (Noëlle Bastin and Baptiste Bogaert);
• MAX Award for Best Feature Film in the National Competition: Hanami (Denise Fernandes; pictured at the top of this article);
• Best Feature Film Directing Award: Two Times João Liberada (Paula Tomás Marques);
• Special Mention: Gods of Stone (Iván Castiñeiras Gallego); and
• IndieMusic Award: Orlando Pantera (Catarina Alves Costa; second picture on this article).

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Our dirty picks

Below are a couple of films ated very highly by our writers. Well done IndieLisboa for picking them up. Viewers, watch out for these marvels of independent cinema. Reviews also available by clicking on the film titles.

• The Sparrow in the Chimney (Ramon Zürcher);
• April (Dea Kulumbegashbili);
• On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni); and
• BLKNWS: Terms and Conditions (Kahlil Joseph).