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In a landmark year marking its twentieth edition, MOTELX once again gave Lisbon audiences a fright with the best and most diverse horror cinema from different latitudes and styles, bidding farewell on Saturday night to an already loyal public with the crowning of an imaginative short about Portugal’s Estado Novo and two Nordic films.
The MOTELX Award – Best Portuguese Horror Short 2026, the largest cash prize for national short films, worth €5,000, was presented to “A Hora do Chico!”, by João Severo and Rafael Sá Carneiro. The jury, made up of Fernando Vasquez (programmer), José Santiago (journalist and programmer) and Sandra Henriques (journalist and author), highlighted the “ambition and maturity” of the film, “a disturbing journey through a past that few miss, which merges, in the best possible way, with an alternative reality”.
There was also a Special Mention for “Consumido”, by [carrozo], for its “humour and visual care, combined with narrative economy that turns the roles of predator and prey on their head”.
As for the Meliès d’Argent awards, which select a feature and a short of European production to go on to compete for the Meliès d’Or in Sitges, the jury opted for “Mancave”, by Norwegian director Fredrik S. Hana, in the short film competition, and “No Rest for the Wicked”, by Dane Kasper Kalle, for features. The film is set in the Faroe Islands in the 19th century and showcases breathtaking landscapes.
The film “weaves desire, religion, repression, beauty, love and death together with rare elegance”, as underlined by the jury composed of Isilda Sanches (journalist and music broadcaster), Leone Niel (director) and Teresa Nicolau (cultural director and columnist).
The juries also handed awards to “Hóspede”, by Miguel Monteiro Rico (MOTELX Award – Best Portuguese Horror Screenplay), “Lexi” (Spain), directed by Portuguese filmmaker Bruno Simões, in the “Lobo Mau” section, aimed at younger audiences and families, and “Gunman”, written and directed by Argentine filmmaker Cris Tapia Marchiori, winner of the Audience Award.
The festival paid tribute to Portuguese-Swedish filmmaker Solveig Nordlund with the Noémia Delgado Award for outstanding women in horror cinema and to Julie Corman, widow of American director and producer Roger Corman, to mark the centenary of his birth. Julie Corman returned to MOTELX for a masterclass largely devoted to her husband’s long career, having previously accompanied Roger Corman when he was a special guest at the 2017 edition.