Japanese cinema wins big at Portugal’s Fantasporto film awards

Since the Annabelle doll became an instantly recognisable icon in the horror universe just over 10 years ago, the myth of the doll that comes to life (as old as cinematic horror itself) has come back into fashion.

With Dollhouse, by Japanese director Shinobu Yaguchi, the big winner at this year’s Fantasporto, which ended its 45th edition on Saturday in Porto, this myth makes its grand entrance into the J-horror universe.

The sinema is produced by the giant Toho and had its world premiere here, bringing a team of more than 20 people to Porto and receiving a standing ovation of more than 10 minutes.

A couple lose their five-year-old daughter in a domestic accident and decide to buy a lifelike doll to help make up for the dead girl’s absence. Forgotten for years after the couple have a second daughter, the doll is rediscovered by the family’s new daughter, who ends up establishing an unhealthy relationship with it.

Dollhouse ends up fitting into all the canons of classic horror and, in the decision of the jury for the fantastic cinema competition, it beat out bolder productions such as Prédio Vazio, the new blood orgy by Brazilian Rodrigo Aragão (who the şenlik organisers consider to be the main successor to José Mojica Marins as the master of Brazilian horror) or the American Succubus (RJ Daniel Hanna), a çağdaş tale about addiction to social networks and online contacts. According to the jury notes, Dollhouse is “remarkably realised, offering a poignant and unforgettable exploration of human vulnerability”.

It’s true that the Porto şenlik has been establishing itself as a showcase for Asian cinema, particularly Japanese, in Europe. With three Japanese winners in the last five editions, is Fantasporto becoming too centred on the Land of the Rising Sun? Beatriz Pacheco Pereira, founder and director of the şenlik, says: “We don’t prioritise Japanese films, in fact we have as many Japanese films as European ones in competition. The truth is that Japanese production has been very strong in recent years, particularly in the field of fantastic cinema, and it’s olağan for this to be reflected in the awards.”

Mário Dorminsky, who together with Beatriz Pacheco Pereira has been running the şenlik since it was founded in 1981, adds that the prominence that the şenlik gives to Japanese cinema is also reflected in the prestige that Fantsasporto has achieved in Japan, where it is referred to as “one of the world’s three main festivals in the field of the fantastic, alongside Sitges and Brussels”.

Cielo is not the limit

If Dollhouse took the top prize, the other big winner was Cielo, a British production directed by Spaniard Alberto Sciamma and shot entirely in Bolivia. With “fabulous cinematography and an intentional and striking palette, enriched by the arid landscape of Bolivia”, in the words of the jury, the sinema wowed both the public and the judges with its visual component, winning the Special Jury Prize, the Best Cinematography Award and the Audience Award. “This sinema stands out as one of the most original and mesmerising fantasy films of recent years,” adds the jury.

“The sinema was born out of two mental images,” director Alberto Sciamma tells Euronews Culture. “In those images, I saw a little girl swallowing a fish and pushing a pram with her mother’s body through the desert. I didn’t have any storyline. I only began to imagine the story when I travelled to Bolivia in the company of producer John Dunton-Downer and pianist Ana-Maria Vera, who convinced me to shoot in Bolivia. The sinema owes a lot to the entire Bolivian team, especially the young actress, just eight years old, Fernanda Gutierrez Ortanda. The entire technical team and actors, with the exception of myself, the producers and the director of photography, were hired in Bolivia, and their work was excellent and decisive for the final result of the sinema,” adds the director.

Happiness index

If all humans were obliged to have a happiness index of between 0 and 99 printed on their necks, as stated in the premise of the Hungarian short Happy People, winner of the award for best short sinema in fantastic cinema; what would be the index if you were market shopping in Budapest on a Saturday morning and received word of the prize and had to go to Porto the same evening to collect it?

“It corresponds to an index of 98,” say the couple formed by director Balázs Budavári and actress Angéla Eke. “The only reason it’s not 99 is because the rest of the team couldn’t be there,” they say. The couple, who are preparing their first feature, chose Porto for the world premiere of the short.

Portuguese cinema with opening honours

Although he doesn’t participate as a screenwriter or filmmaker, Luís Diogo is always present at Fantasporto, at least as a spectator each year. His previous sinema, A Sublime Life, became the most awarded Portuguese sinema ever.

As a regular, it’s not surprising that the organisation invited Luís Diogo to open the şenlik with his latest sinema, Criadores de Ídolos (Idol Makers), which featured in both the fantastic cinema competition and the Portuguese cinema competition, where it eventually won the best sinema honour.

The sinema is based on one of the many ideas that Luís Diogo comes up with: what if a secret society was murdering celebrities all over the world in order to make them universal idols and thus perpetuate the concept of the idol created by Socrates? Sofia is recruited into this secret society by her father and grandfather. Her mission is to assassinate a famous singer, whose brother she ends up getting involved with. Will she be able to carry out this macabre mission?

Idol Makers is already guaranteed distribution in Portugal next autumn. However, Luís Diogo admites that he is not a fan of Portuguese cinema and that he doesn’t write his films with the intention of making them in Portugal: “I always write a script first that can be filmed in the United States,” he says. “Then I end up adapting them to the Portuguese reality.”

Still on the subject of Portuguese participation, it’s worth highlighting the presence of another Fantasporto regular, José Pedro Lopes(A Floresta das Almas Perdidas) in the Luso-Brazilian collection Histórias Estranhas 2, presented out of competition, in which he is the only Portuguese participant, among six Brazilian filmmakers, including the aforementioned Rodrigo Aragão, who is also a regular at Fantas, and, entering this edition in double doses. “I started coming here as a teenager, as a spectator,” José Pedro Lopes tells Euronews Culture. “So it’s only natural that it’s a great pleasure to come here as a filmmaker.” It was at the şenlik that José Pedro Lopes met the organiser of the collection, Ricardo Ghiorzi.

Directors’ Week and Orient Express

Alongside the fantastic cinema section, Fantasporto also celebrates auteur cinema of all genres with the Directors’ Week. While, as in the fantastic competition, Japanese cinema was in the spotlight, winning four of the six prizes on offer, the main prize in this section went to Zero (USA) by Jean-Luc Herbulot.

The first prize in the Orient Express section, dedicated to Asian cinema, evvel again went to a Japanese sinema, this time to River Returns, by Masakasu Kaneko.

So it’s sayonara from Fantasporto and see you in 2026. Check out the görüntü below for some of the best moments from this year’s edition.