“After almost two years of pandemic, and after a significantly more limited edition than usual, in 2021 FEST returns with a desire to get closer to its normal format, once again promoting, at Centro Multimeios de Espinho, an expanded and eclectic programme of professional activities”, said the festival organisers.

Among the professionals who this year will share their experience with those enrolled in the program are also Catalan filmmaker Isabel Coixet, German film consultant based in Portugal Dörte Schneider and British sound editor Eddy Joseph.

There will also be 'masterclasses' dedicated to virtual film production – led by Nancy Xu, producer at Epic Games, and Johannes Wilkes, executive producer at Glassbox Technologies – and sessions focused on acting and the relationship between actor and director, led by Nancy Bishop, director of 'casting', and Caprice Crawford, appointed as “acting manager”.

All this training will take place in parallel with the competitive component of FEST, which involves “more than 240 films of recent production”, for “a transversal look at the works of today's emerging filmmakers and a wide selection of works produced in Portugal”.