Storytime! A Celebration of Animation Dreams
It starts with a little girl full of imagination, in a little hometown
Growing up in Portugal, I was always a big fan of cartoons and animated movies, but wasn’t aware of any done by Portuguese artists.
It felt like Animation was something done far away, by very different people from me.
The first animation film from a Portuguese director I remember being shown, in school, was around 2011, “História Trágica com Final Feliz” by Regina Pessoa.
It was so beautiful, I quickly felt deeply moved. Suddenly my mind was opened to the fact that there were people in Portugal making Animation. I wondered how it was possible to create a whole animated film, how to have that kind of career…
From that day, my animation bug never stopped growing.
I kept an eye on the work of Regina, and I discovered the work of other big names in Portugal, like Abi Feijó, José Miguel Ribeiro, Pedro Serrazina... And I also got to participate in a super nice stop motion workshop once in my hometown where I met the Directors Joana Nogueira and Patrícia Rodrigues…!
Going to University
While doing my Bachelor in Fine Arts (Media Art) in Porto, I always searched for ways of stepping into the Animation World (and Illustration, self-taught). I took all the optional classes of Animation I could: Introduction, 3D Modeling and Animation, and a more Advanced Animation class with a project at the end…
(I always smile so much visiting my old website with my first animations: here, have a treat for later.)
Then I discovered some people from my course with the same interests were doing Erasmus at a certain school in Gent (KASK), in Belgium, part of a full Animation Bachelor program.
So I took my chance and became another one of them, in 2016.
Discovering a new world (Erasmus in Gent)
I was astonished to see KASK, the school, for the first time, all the rooms full of animation equipment (in Porto, except for the 3D class equipped with iMacs, all we had was a free table and chairs, we had to find our own equipment)… I had never seen so many Cintiq (drawing screens) in one single room in my life! And the ateliers! Full of animation paper, machines to prepare it, to film it, make tests, whole shelves full of supplies…
It was Animation Heaven.
One time, visiting the library at KASK, I found an “Art of” book with the making process of “A suspeita”. It is a super cool and intriguing Portuguese animation film directed by José Miguel Ribeiro. I had actually shown the film to the class at the beginning of my Erasmus, together with other Portuguese animation, to show the artists who inspired me the most to try working with Animation.
Many of the senior Animators (that’s what we call the experts, there are also junior and medior levels) in Portugal are actually people who started off as Fine Arts students/graduates and ended up starting their own Studios, becoming teachers in freshly designed Animation Courses and helping to build the industry more and more.
Discovering these professional animators and getting to know them better (through reading interviews, books, and researching videos on YouTube…) meant and still means the world to someone like me coming from that same background of Fine Arts, trying to find my way in Animation.
When I found that book I read it from cover to cover. I wrote down pages with notes, I absorbed all I could learn from it. The two main characters from my film “The Pancakes’ House” were also inspired by the character design of José Miguel.
You can watch my Bachelor film here.
Back to the roots
After my Erasmus in Gent, in 2016/2017, I lived in Portugal for a year. I got to visit some Festivals due to the selections of my Bachelor Film, but I didn’t happen to cross ways with many of these animators.
I did have the awesome opportunity to discover and meet two great Portuguese Animators: Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires (Xá) that I had just discovered thanks to their film “Água Mole” being screened at some festivals I visited.
I will forever feel grateful to Xá, for inviting me for a one-day visit to “Bando à Parte”, the studio where they were making her film “Elo”. I went home with a DVD from the studio with some more animation to watch and new Animators to discover, like David Doutel and Vasco Sá, and their film “O Sapateiro”.
During this year in Portugal, though, I couldn’t stop thinking about Gent. I realized I had fallen deeply in love with the city and living there…
I doubted for a long time if I should go back to Belgium if I should look for an internship or job… but I felt I needed to up-level my animation skills first, so I was thrilled to join the Master in Animation Film at KASK!
Returning to my second home, Gent
When I came back to Gent, in 2018, and I did my first internship at the studio S.O.I.L. (part of the Master’s program), I was told that they were preparing to work on a feature film, “Nayola”… by José Miguel Ribeiro! It would still take about 3 years or so before the production would be in full force but my attention was caught…
I had by then also watched “A journey to Cape Verde” and really identified with the work of José Miguel…
Sometime after I finished my studies, my Master’s Film got awarded the National Animation Award in Portugal (Student Category), a Festival visited by many senior and junior animators, a huge bunch of people I would have loved to meet… But life circumstances kept me from visiting and celebrating with them.
Two stills from my master film. You can watch it here.
That made me feel so frustrated and sad because I love my job, and I love the work I was doing in Belgium and the people I knew from here, but I always hoped to feel part of the Portuguese animation community too, of establishing an emotional bridge between my two homes…
In 2020 I was able to watch “TIO TOMÁS, A CONTABILIDADE DOS DIAS” by Regina Pessoa, and my love for her work just grew further…
I kept in touch with the Belgian studio about “Nayola” for years hoping for the day to come and do a test…
Manifesting…
When the day came, in April 2021 I did the test for an in-betweening position… And I got the job! (I emailed back crying from how happy I was ihih).
I worked for 5 months as an inbetweener, part of the Belgian team of “Nayola”. A dream job. The perfect way of having both worlds connected.
The movie had its first premiere in Annecy in 2022 but I couldn’t go. I missed the chance to meet the Portuguese team once again and celebrate together… I was sooooo sad.
My parents even sent me news about the film that were on the TV in Portugal, showing one of the shots I worked on, me watching at distance…
But…
It happened that “Nayola” was chosen to be the film to be shown in the Opening Ceremony of The Anima Festival in Brussels, on the 17th of February of this year!
Studio S.O.I.L. was kind to get tickets for the team, and I could finally meet José Miguel Ribeiro!
It was a wonderful night, the team present at the screening was even asked to get up and receive praise from the audience… I could see once again my name passing by in the credits… Magical!
I gave a strong hug back to my past self who thought she might never have a chance to be part of the Animation World.
And I remembered a moment during my Erasmus in 2016 where I wrote somewhere a wish, “In 2025 I will be working as an animator”. It is not even 2025 yet.
Life has a way of surprising you and conceiving you your wishes, if only you persevere enough for the right time to come by…
This said, the Animation World is not easy, but… often… it’s such a damn worthy rollercoaster!
Lastly…
I sometimes get asked how I ended up here, why I decided to stay in Belgium, how it is to be an animator…
I am always happy to help people who are trying to figure out how to start, so I decided I could once in a while share a bit of my experience!
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or something to share!
Also important: if you would like to discover more Portuguese Directors/Animation, check the Animateca from Casa Da Animação! It’s a new thing they’re building but it already looks super nice!
Stay safe and inspired,
