The “Monstra” animated film festival focuses on Italy

The 16^th edition of “Monstra”, Lisbon’s animated film festival running until 26 March, is dedicated to Italian animation. Already in past editions, Italian animation was present both in the contest, with feature and short films, and in the Festival’s different sections. This year the Festival has wanted to dedicate special attention to Italy, also thanks to the cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute in Lisbon. The kermess, which started in 2000, represents an important event for animated films at European and international level. The special focus on Italy will begin in the section “Auteur Film Retrospective” and will span from Bruno Bozzetto (Allegro non troppo, Mister Rossi’s Dream, West and Soda, Opera, Striptease, Neuro and many more), to Enzo D’Alò (Pinocchio, Story Of A Seagull And The Cat Who Taught Her To Fly), Simone Massi (L’attesa di maggio, La memoria dei cani, Io so chi sono), Julia Gromskaya (Fiumana, Il sogno di Giada) and Gianluigi Toccafondo (La coda, La pista, Pinocchio). The special sections in which Italy is represented are the “History of Animation”, curated by Giannalberto Bendazzi (La gazza ladra by Giulio Gianini and Emanuele Luzzati), “Contemporary Italian Animation” curated by Andrea Martignoni (with shorts by Virginia Mori, Michele Bernardi, Niba & Matteo Giacchella, Donato Sansone, Magda Guidi, Virgilio Villoresi, Blu, Roberto Catani, and many more) and “Italian Animation Today” curated by Luca Raffaelli (with shorts by Guido Manuli, Pier Paolo Paganelli, Francesca Macciò, Francesca Quatraro, Sergio Basso, Lorenzo Latrofa, Mauro Carraro). Lastly, the “8 ½ al Monstra” section, a preview of the Italian Film Festival in Portugal which will open its 10^th edition on 5 April, will screen “East End”, a film by Giuseppe Squilacci and Luca Scanferla.