The Fantasporto Film Festival was founded by film critics Beatriz Pacheco Pereira and Mário Dorminsky and painter José Manuel Pereira. The first festival was held in 1981 as Mostra de Cinema Fantástico (Fantastic Film Show), the inaugural edition was non-competitive. The official competition was introduced in 1982, the first film to win the festival award was The Redeemer by Krsto Papić (Yugoslavia). The festival received its current name in 1993.
Although the festival is organized by a private entity, it is mostly state funded. The Ministry of Culture of Portugal provides most of the funds and the President of Portugal served as the head of the Honorary Committee. Fantasportu is supported by Portugal’s Film and Audiovisual Institute (ICA) and the municipality of Porto.
The program of the festival is divided into several sections including Fantasy Film (the official competition), Directors Week, Orient Express, Fantas in Shorts, Portuguese Film Panorama, Premiere and Panorama, and Retrospectives. Each competitive section has its own jury. The most significant awards given out at Fantasporto include the Best Film Award (Grand Prix Fantasporto), Special Jury Award, Directors Week Award, Special Jury Award (Directors Week), and Career Award awarded for lifetime achievement.
The Fantasporto Film Festival attracts over 100,000 attendees every year. Variety magazine rated it one of the world’s top 25 leading film festivals. Its program has featured works by notable filmmakers including David Cronenberg, Luc Besson, Neil Jordan, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, David Fincher, the Wachowskis, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Pedro Almodóvar, Paul Anderson, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Lars von Trier, and others.
In 2021, the event was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo: antestreia.blogspot.com
