06:27:18 Tuesday, 19th March

For 35 years, the city of Porto has been hosting the Porto Film Festival - Fantasporto or 'Fantas', as it is often called, which is one of the most prestigious film festivals in Europe and the entire world! 

It is held at Teatro Municipal Rivoli, where for ten days, actors, actresses, producers, directors and many members of the public go to watch the hundreds of fantasy films shown (short films and feature films). Most of what is shown has never been screened in Portugal, and there are often previews, homages (such as to Orson Welles, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers and Fernando Venrel) and retrospectives.

This festival is divided into ten sessions, four of which are for competition purposes, with international juries. Each year, around 50 countries are represented with a total of approximately 200 short films and feature films.

Important names from the silver screen have been part of Fantas throughout these 35 years, both actors and guest directors, such as Danny Boyle, Guillermo del Toro and Rosana Arquette.

Some major names in cinema such as David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Ridley Scott, Luc Besson and Lars von Trier gained visibility from this festival.

This festival first took place in 1981, under the name of Mostra de Cinema Fantástico. It immediately began to make a name for itself within its genre, especially with the fans of fantasy films. Later, Fantasporto broadened the style of films shown, but it mostly screens what is not shown in the commercial cinemas.

Fantasporto also takes part in the great Cannes Festival, with its own space where it publicises the festival and Portugal in general.

Due to this festival's projection both in Portugal and worldwide, in 2007, one of Fantasporto's sponsors, Toyota, launched a special model, the Aygo Fantas, making it the only film festival in the world with a car and logo named after it.