‘The Seagulls Cut Through The Sky’ and ‘Cold Soup’ in the spotlight at Leiria Film Fest

‘Seagulls Cut Through The Sky’ (Mariana Bártolo / Guillermo García López, 2023, Portugal / France, FIC, 18′) receives the Best National Fiction Short Film at Leiria Film Fest 2024. In the words of the jury: ‘Seagulls Cut Through the Sky stands out for its direction and photography. A story that is nothing more than a fragment of someone's life that leaves us full of questions and manages to introduce, through an image of undeniable beauty, anguish, poetry, doubts and tensions.’

‘Cold Soup‘ (Marta Monteiro, 2023, Portugal / France, ANI, 10’) was awarded the Best Short Film and Best Portuguese Animated Short Film at the Leiria Film Fest 2024. In the words of the jury: ‘Cold Soup was the most unanimous film and is undoubtedly the best of the year. For its technique, direction and narrative. It's more than a film. It's a visual experience that puts the viewer in the character's shoes. More than an animation, it's a film that uses animation as a narrative technique that breaks down the boundaries of film genres. (...) it tells us the story of a woman, which is nothing more than the story of hundreds, if not thousands of women, not just in Portugal, but all over the world who suffer at the hands of domestic violence. And Cold Soup is also an ode to animation, with a radiant mix of techniques that joins the narrative in a brilliant way.’