10h00 | Centro Multimeios - Sala PolivalenteIn the 2024 edition, Symposium Perspectives on Portuguese Animation, curated by Professor Sahra Kunz from the Portuguese Catholic University – Porto, will focus on the work of Regina Pessoa (Coimbra, 1969). Regina is one of the most important figures in contemporary author animation in Portugal. Her cinematography, from A Noite (1999) to Tio Tomás, A Contabilidade Dos Dias (2019), has been recognised internationally at the world’s most prestigious animation festivals, leading to her inclusion on the jury panel for the Oscars and special recognition at the Annecy festival in 2023.
The aim of this panel is to compare the visions of the different areas represented in this edition by the guests: Laura Castro (UCP/EA – Art History), Luísa Veloso (ISCTE – Sociology), Patrícia Oliveira (UCP/FEP – Psychology/Neurosciences) and Pedro Serrazina (Lusófona – Animation). We believe that the diversity of this panel will provide a unique and diverse view of Regina Pessoa’s work.
It remains the aim of the CINANIMA organisation to continue this project, with the main objective of disseminating Animation research to audiences that are familiar with it, but also to attract new audiences.
Partner: Escola das Artes da Universidade Católica – Porto
Regina Pessoa was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1969. She studied Painting at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto.
Working with a variety of animated engraving techniques, she created and directed auteur films such as “The Night” in 1999, ”Tragic Story with a Happy End” in 2005, “Kali the Little Vampire” in 2012 and “Uncle-Thomas accounting for the days” in 2019, which have been distinguished with countless awards and distinctions in the main International Film Festivals and events such as Annecy’06 Grand Prix; SXSW’07 Grand Prix; Annecy’19 Jury Award; ANNIE’20 Award for Best Short Subject, etc.
Her films are shown all over the world, including important art museums such as the solo exhibition “Tragic Story with a Happy Ending” at the Drawing Biennale “To the very last drawing” at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka – 2009; at Museu l’ Orangerie as part of the exhibition “Les contes cruels de Paula Rego” – 2018/2019; and at Museo de Bellas Artes das Asturias, with “Four Discreet Windows”, a video-installation about her work – 2023.
In 2016 she became Senior Lecturer at FILMAKADEMIE-Germany.
In 2018 she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Hollywood)
With a distinct and creative personal artistic vision expressed not only in her films but also through illustration, painting and drawing, she is currently developing her next film, “MOTHER FACES” at Ciclope Filmes Studio owned by her and her partner Abi Feijó, situated on the grounds of their Museum of Moving Image – CASA MUSEU DE VILAR.
In Regina Pessoa’s film, Kali the Little Vampire, there is an open drawer in the character’s chest where meaningful materials are kept. In modern and contemporary art, drawers like this one, which protect secrets and mysteries, dreams and projects, objects of remembrance, manufactured or found elements, artificial or natural, can take the form of boxes, suitcases, cabinets and other collection, recollection and memory devices.
In another film by the director, Tio Tomás, there is a peculiar way of carefully arranging certain objects that is reminiscent of museum display cases, which is another collection and memory device.
This communication evokes the drawer and the museum display case to reflect on Regina Pessoa as a gleaner of memories. Objects and memories from her universe of family and intimate strangeness, of a biographical and autobiographical nature, are there, ready to be gleaned when requested by the artistic gesture, as if only they could occupy the heart of her work.
Professor at the School of Arts of the Portuguese Catholic University, where she was director between 2013 and 2017, and researcher at the Centre for Research in Science and Technology of the Arts.
Laura Castro has a PhD in Art and Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto.Between the early 1990s and 2006, Laura worked in the cultural sector. She was regional director of Culture for the North and vice-president of Cultural Heritage, IP.
She writes regularly on modern and contemporary art, museology, art and landscape and public art.
Laura is a member of the Portuguese Association of Art Historians and the International Association of Art Critics. Laura chaired the board of Círculo de Cultura Teatral/Teatro Experimental do Porto (2015-2021), was a member of the board of Árvore/ Artistic Activities Cooperative (2010-2015), and of the board of Lugar do Desenho/Júlio Resende Foundation (2009-14 and 2019-20).
Regina Pessoa’s work shares a view of the relationships between social actors that takes on heterogeneous configurations in her various creations. It is remarkably dense and offers a variety of perspectives on the social processes of constructing and deconstructing identities in dialogue with the Other and with perennial and mysterious places and times.
Based on the belief that the work of artistic creation constitutes an activity of knowledge production, we propose a reflection on Regina Pessoa’s films, discussing how they present a reflection on contemporary societies, with an emphasis on social relations and identities.
Sociologist. Associate Professor at Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon. Researcher at Cies – University Institute of Lisbon. Associate Researcher at the Institute of Sociology – University of Porto. Professor in the Department of Sociology Department of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto between 1991 and 2008. Coordinator and member of research teams for various national and international projects. Author of several publications. Main research interests: innovation, science and technology; labour, economy and professions; art, culture and learning. Colaboration with various cultural institutions and artists, such as Cinemateca Portuguesa, Fundação de Serralves, O Rumo do Fumo, Associação Sete Anos. She is currently Director of the Department of Sociology at the School of Sociology and Public Policy.
This text challenges the reader to explore the emotional layers and the path of metamorphosis that the characters in Regina Pessoa’s four animated films go through: ‘A Noite’, ‘História Trágica com Final Feliz’, ‘Kali o Pequeno Vampiro’ and ‘Tio Tomás a Contabilidade dos Dias’. Throughout her career, Regina Pessoa invites us to create space for an encounter with characters who will mark us deeply. With each film, her characters move toward greater, not lesser, marginalization and a sense of not belonging, and toward more, not less, search for understanding and proximity.
Patrícia Oliveira-Silva leads the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory and the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Education and Psychology at Católica Porto, overseeing internationalization, research, and knowledge transfer. With a career on social neuroscience, her work focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation, empathy, and interpersonal relationship. She has led international research projects funded by national and international agencies and invested in a strong commitment with community partners. Her engagement with the scientific community has promoted intense international and interdisciplinary collaboration. her strategic advocacy efforts have successfully highlighted the critical importance of internationalization, establishing it as a foundational element for fostering social innovation, research, and higher education.
Based on Bachelard’s poetics of space, Merleau-Ponty’s exploration of perception, and Batkin’s text on the construction of identity in animated film, we examine how the construction of space in Regina Pessoa’s films reflects traces of memory and contributes to a deeply personal and unique visual identity. From this perspective, the animated space is not only a simple background for the characters, but creates an experience of active perception, revealing multiple layers and lending cohesion to her work as a whole.
Pedro Serrazina is an award-winning director and senior lecturer in animation. His first short, “Tale about the cat and the moon”, premiered internationally at the Cannes Film Festival ‘96 and is still regularly screened in international retrospectives and festivals. Since then, his work has been exhibited and published internationally, ranging from film, site-specific installations, to documentary, music videos and academic projects. Serrazina is interested in the interconnections between architecture, documentary and animation, and his practice-based PhD was dedicated to the use of animated space as a tool to reflect on social space. A member of the Society for Animation Studies and Ecstatic Truth (a symposium dedicated to the interconnections between animation and documentary practices), Serrazina is currently preparing his next film, “What Remains of Us”.
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