The festival establishes itself as a complex channel of contemporary culture from Central and Eastern Europe to Portugal, putting the spotlight on novel cinematographic trends of countries such as Latvia.

Since 2017, BEAST International Film Festival has been proving itself and to the public as an event that shines an important light on the East European cinema landscape. While exploring the Balkans, Baltics, or Post-Communism, BEAST IFF has opened a cultural umbrella covering 21 countries, with a unique focus on diversity bringing new works and talents that represent the latest faces of the New East in cinema.

With the challenges generated by the pandemic and the viability for an enriching online experience, BEAST International Film Festival will first kick off from the 24th to the 28th of March in partnership with the Portuguese streaming platform Filmin.  Born from a collaboration and dialogue initiative between Portuguese cinematographic operators, critics, festivals and national as well as international cultural institutions, Filmin is the main independent cinema streaming platform in Portugal.

This year, Romania is the focus of the festival through the Focus Country section, but other Eastern and Central European nations will be highlighted by the program as well. The Official Competition, which has functioned as the core of BEAST International Film Festival since its first edition, will feature a Latvian film by the director Liene Rubane. NOT ALIVE YET (Latvia, 2020) is a voyage through the time when memories of recent past, reality and dreams interact, building and audio-visual experience where another dimension of our life may be sensed. Selected for the EastWave program aimed at supporting short and medium-length fiction films by promising young talents, it will be competing for the best fiction film award.

Some of BEAST International Film Festival activities, such as screenings, Q&As with filmmakers, BEAST Talks, and The Mirages of Freedom and School Visit programs will be available for worldwide audiences, free of charge, through our online channels. For more information please visit:

Website: https://beastfilm.pt/
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