Nominated for an Oscar in the category of best animated short film, “Ice Marchants” will be Portugal’s first film at the highest award in world cinema.
The production, a 2D animation without dialogues, tells the touching story of a man and his son. The two live in a cold house on top of a cliff and have to face, every day, a vertiginous parachute jump to go to a village to sell the ice they produced during the night.
Before achieving the unprecedented Portuguese Oscar nomination, “Ice Merchants” had already collected victories and mentions at several international film festivals, and was also the first Portuguese animated film to be awarded at Cannes.
The film is directed by João Gonzalez, 26. Also trained in classical piano, the young director, born in Porto, in the north of Portugal, also signs the soundtrack for the production.
“Something that has always fascinated me about animation cinema is the freedom it offers us to create something from scratch. Surrealist and bizarre scenarios and realities that can be used as a metaphorical tool”, says Gonzalez, in the production’s promotional material.
“Ice Merchants covers a human story, about family bonding, simple rituals and daily routines, metaphorically studying them as the basis of long-term human relationships”, he adds.
The achievement of the film was quite celebrated in the Portuguese cultural environment. In the last decade, the country’s animation shorts have been standing out in international awards and festivals.
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