Ocean Coast Film Festival, Portugal

I had the best time at the 2025 Ocean Coast Film Festival! Such a unique festival—a real cultural event in beautiful Lavra, Portugal.

As one of the filmmakers with a short film in the fest, I was totally knocked out by the amazing opening night ceremony, featuring live performances of music, stand-up comedy, and dance.

And then my heart exploded when my movie was honored with the Best Short Film Award!

The theater in Lavra is spectacular, with a wonderful big screen, stunning projection, and classic auditorium seating that made me feel at home, as someone who grew up in the single-screen movie palaces of my childhood in America.

The festival director Fábio Santos and his team deserve the highest praise for all their hard work, going above and beyond to give filmmakers and audiences alike an unforgettable experience, including fascinating Q&As with film industry veterans and artists.

The film programming was first-rate. Simply as a film lover, it was an immense pleasure just to watch the selected films, including an eclectic mix of international films that were deeply moving and incredibly entertaining, especially the Portuguese films which were a real revelation to me.

Perhaps most important of all for international filmmakers, it was such an honor to see how conscientious and caring Ocean Coast is in preparing not just accurate but downright poetic Portuguese subtitles for every single international film. I was so impressed by Ocean Coast’s Micael Silva when I had the pleasure of speaking to him about his process for creating Portuguese subtitles, and how he actually read and consulted the novel on which my movie was based in order to render every line in my film with fidelity and poetry for the Portuguese-speaking audience.

Add to all of this the fact that the setting of the festival is the stunningly beautiful Atlantic Ocean coast town of Lavra, near Porto. Prepare to be charmed!

And last (but not least!) Ocean Coast made sure to feed us—and not just hors d'oeuvre, mind you, but delicious hot meals, barbecue-style shredded meats to make sandwiches with, along with finger foods, cake, and wine!

Bravo, Ocean Coast Film Festival! Do yourself a favor and do everything you can to get into this superb festival.

The Ocean Coast Film Festival was a great experience altogether and it was an honour to have our "The End was Just the Beginning" awarded Best Drama Short.

Foi um prazer ter sido selecionada por este festival com uma identidade tão forte na região em que se insere. Dois dias de filmes de qualidade, com convidados sempre muito interessantes. Dias a marcar na agenda no próximo ano.

We had a really great time attending Ocean Coast Film Festival! We met a lot of great people and had the opportunity to show our film to a big audience. Big thanks to the festival crew for organising this wonderful festival.

The Ocean Coast Film Festival was a huge surprise to us because it was so professional, organized, attentive (but) and always human. While at first glance it may seem like a festival in a small town by the sea, the OCFF manages to have what many big festivals in Portugal lack of, a real platform for emerging filmmakers to not only show their work but also, in a real and human way, to get in touch with other filmmakers and producers from all over the world, including industry heavyweights.

We had the privilege of having our short-film DILÚVIO not only play at the festival but also win an award, but more than that, what will surely make us come back is the familiar way and the love that the festival gives to those who show their work there. We hope that the festival can grow and receive more support so that it can continue not only to be a showcase for new talent worldwide, but also to develop support of local projects and institutions that boost local talent and combine cinema with social support for those who need it most.

Thank you for letting us be part of such a beautiful festival. See you in the next wave!