To paraphrase Freud, behind every great movie is a great argument, and behind a big argument, most often, is a great book. When Cinema was born in 1895, and had emerged as the Seventh Art, Literature (Sixth of Arts), already had long and rich history. No wonder Cinema, characterized by it’s irreverence and ambitiousness, has turned to it’s older sister for inspiration, plots, stories and characters.This almost umbilical connection runs through the history of cinema, as an almost perfect passion. But like all passions, there are moments of overwhelming intensity, sublime betrayals, mediocre or brilliant adaptations. Without the support of Literature, Cinema would perhaps be a hollow technique, an invention without a future. With inspiration in Literature, Cinema is a dream that is making millions of viewers worldwide dream, the great art of our time, a creative synthesis of all the arts, recognizing the importance of Literature in Cinema, rather than diminishing it, will only magnify it.

The history and importance is what birthed The Cinetrofa - International Film and Literature Festival established in 2014 and over the years has grown to become one of the main platform for artistic literature cinematic films in Portugal.

The aim of the festival is to present the latest works of cinema expecially literature texts made for cinema, support the creative search of the filmmakers making films from some of the world's best literature texts and discover new names, geographical and aesthetic territories. With strong emphasis on films made by thes directors, the festival also welcomes other independent films made by filmmakers from all over the world and screened in a special category. The Festival program and the order of films demonstration are determined by the Festival Board of Directors.

Awards & Prizes

CineTrofa “Based on Novel” (BON)
The CineTrofa “Based on Novel” (BON) aims to advertise and promote the works of film and audiovisual media quality that highlights the links between cinema and literature.
The CineTrofa BON consists of four sections:

 Official Section
 Panorama
 Retrospective
 Tributes
The films are selected by a committee of experts being open enrollment to long and short films. For more information consult the Regulation CineTrofa “Based on Novel”.

The CineTofa DOC
The CineTofa DOC has a competitive nature, and aims to exhibit, promote and reward works of film and audiovisual quality in multimedia documentary strands.
The CineTrofa DOC consists of the following categories:

 Short film - the duration of the projection may not exceed 30 minutes
 Medium-length film - length is between 30 and 59 minutes
 Feature film - the duration is longer than 60 minutes
The films are selected by a committee of experts being open enrollment to long and short films. For more information consult the Regulation CineTrofa DOC.

CineTrofa STORY
The Cinetrofa STORY refers to artisitc narrative fiction and experimental films made by brilliant filmmakers with a passion to moving the boudaries of filmmaking.
The Cinetrofa STORY consists of the following categories:

 Narrative and Experimental Short film - the duration of the projection may not exceed 30 minutes
 Narrative and Experimental Medium-length film - length is between 30 and 59 minutes
 Narrative Feature film - the duration is longer than 60 minutes
The films are selected by a committee of experts being open enrollment to long and short films. For more information consult the Regulation CineTrofa STORY.

Rules & Terms

The 12th Cinetrofa - International Film and Literature Festival will take place in the city of Gaia from "6th" to "10th" November 2024. The festival is a review-competition of films that have received expert evaluation by members of the selection committee.

The aim of the festival is to present the latest works of cinema, support the creative search of young filmmakers and discover new names, geographical and aesthetic territories. The Festival program and the order of films demonstration are determined by the Festival Board of Directors.

Feature-length feature films which are the first, second or third director's work, produced in 2021-2023, shot in any foreign language but with an English subtitle and which have not participated in other Portuguese film festivals, are accepted for the competition program of feature-length fiction films.

Mid-length and feature-length non-fiction films produced in 2022-2024, shot in any foreign language but with an English subtitle and which have not participated in other Portuguese film festivals, are accepted for the non-fiction film competition program.

Fiction and non-fiction short films produced in 2022-2024, shot in any foreign language but with an English subtitle, which have not participated in other Portuguese film festivals, not exceeding 30 (thirty) minutes in length are accepted for the short film competition program.

The Festival Board will decide on invitations, terms and conditions of their stay and accreditation at the Festival. The Festival Management covers all travel expenses to the venue of the Festival along the Porto-Gaia-Porto route and accommodation in one of the Festival hotels for not more than 4 (five) nights, including the arrival and departure days.

The Management reserves the right to invite guests without regard to their direct participation in the production of the films participating in the various film programs. The conditions of their stay at the Festival are stipulated in their personal
invitations.

The Directorate has the right to invite for participation in the film festival guests - prominent cultural, film and pop figures, as well as representatives of business and political elite. The Board of Directors can at any time decide to withdraw accreditation of any accredited person and limit his/her attendance at the Festival events without giving any reasons.