Animalusa SF 2025

 

After two successful editions in Barcelona, the ANIMALUSA showcase arrives in the United States for the first time, with a program that celebrates the vitality of Portuguese animation and strengthens its presence on the international stage.

It Shouldn’t Rain Tomorrow
Director: Maria Trigo Teixeira 
Runtime: 11m 17s

Feeling that her mother may no longer be able to live on her own, a woman moves back to her childhood home. As she tries to adapt to the new situation, her mother continues to drift away.

T-Zero 
Director: Vicente Niró
Runtime: 10m 52s

In a city that was once typically Portuguese, codfish has been replaced by avocado salad, trees by cranes and historic centers by gourmet restaurants. The noise of the wheels of the tourists’ trolleys is now the city’s soundtrack. A real estate agent tries to persuade customers to rent tiny apartments, even if it means evicting the people who live there.

The Wide Eyed Girl and the Long Legged Boy 
Director: Maria Hespanhol
Runtime: 10m 50s

This is a love story full of encounters and mismatches, in which resides a constant presence of an incessant search for the relationships of happiness and self-esteem between the two characters.

Saudade, perhaps… 
Director: José-Manuel Xavier
Runtime: 13m 25s

A man, inside an old bathtub, thinks, wonders and travels through the memories of his childhood.

Pietra 
Director: Cynthia Levitan
Runtime: 13m 08s

In daydreaming about unlikely relationships, the flower – as delicate as it is revolutionary – represents an act of love amidst the suffocation and embrace of a classic Portuguese neighborhood.

Curation

The film selection was carried out by a committee of specialists connected to the fields of animation and cinema:

• Cristina Lima, from the Cinanima Festival
• Luis Miguel Cruz, from Radix Animación
• Diogo Camões, from the Portuguese Film Academy

An international platform for Portuguese animation

Organized by the cooperative O Covil, dedicated to the promotion, training, and distribution of Portuguese animation worldwide, ANIMALUSA San Francisco establishes itself as an annual international launchpad for the best national short films.

“Our goal is to create a bridge that allows Portuguese animation cinema to reach new audiences and contexts, consolidating its place in the international circuit,” emphasizes the O Covil team.

At a time when Portuguese animation is gaining increasing recognition — from its historic Oscar nomination in 2023 to its spotlight at the Annecy Festival in 2024 — ANIMALUSA stands as both a celebration and an invitation to discover new voices, aesthetics, and animated stories.