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🎬 I'm NOT your casual movie reviewer!

I don't do plot overviews or safe, spoiler-free summaries. For that stuff, there's Wikipedia.

What I DO: I share my raw, unfiltered experience and thoughts on movies and TV shows. That means MAJOR SPOILERS could hit you in the very first line of any review.

I talk about films the way you'd chat with a friend who's already seen them. No dancing around plot points. No vague hints. Just honest, spoiler-filled conversation.

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Cinanima Festival - 9th November

A collage showing three parts: on the left, a young girl named Eva stands next to a large blue Cinanima 2025 sign; in the center, a collection of posters for animated shorts including 'Tiger,' 'Snails Breakfast,' and 'Kayak'; on the right, a young child named Kira holds a blue Cinanima festival flyer upside down.

My Last Day at Cinanima (With Eva)


For my second and, ridiculously, last day (lol) in Espinho for the 49ΒΊ Cinanima Festival, I took my daughter Eva to the Family Screening. This one was called "Mini Micro," a selection of short animations put together by Casa de Animação, held on November 9th at the Centro Multimeios. I'm gutted that I couldn't stay for the whole week... 😞 I really wanted to see the international and national competition screenings. But for now, I'm just doing my own little competition here at Cine It. πŸ˜› So, here's the full list of the shorts we saw, ranked from my favorite to my least favorite.

πŸ“… A Quick Note

By the time I'm posting this, the festival is still running (it ends on November 23rd). If you're anywhere near Espinho, make sure you catch it. It's seriously worth the visit.


πŸ₯‡ Cine It Gold: Tiger (2010)


A still from the stop-motion film "Tiger," showing a puppet of a tiger wearing a striped sweater with its hands raised in the air.
In first place, no contest, is Tiger (or Tigeris) by Janis Cimmermanis and the already mythical "Animācijas brigāde" studio from Latvia. This studio was founded way back in 1966 and has made over 140 puppet animation films. I've seen their stuff at other festivals, so when I saw their logo pop up, I knew I was in for 7 minutes of pure joy. I absolutely love their work, and Tiger is just a lot of fun. I love the quirky-looking puppets and their specific style of humor. This has to be one of the most underrated movie studios in the world.

Check out the full short below and definitely visit their website: animacijasbrigade.jimdofree.com

πŸ₯ˆ Cine It Silver: White Crow (2018)


A painted illustration of a black crow wearing a bowtie and a grey crow looking at three white eggs in a nest.
For my second favorite, I'm putting White Crow by director Miran Mioőić and the production company Zagreb Film (Croatia). The story is simple: a little White Crow is born in a flock of black crows and gets laughed at and bullied. But when pollution causes turbulent changes in their environment, she's the one who steps up and helps the flock find a better home. It's a very cool story about inclusion and diversity that got some serious chuckles out of me.

You can watch the whole thing below.

πŸ₯‰ Cine It Bronze: Snails Breakfast (2021)


The illustrated poster for "Snails Breakfast," showing a house with a blue roof and yellow feet walking, with an orange tree behind it.
Third place goes to Snails Breakfast by Evgeny Fadeev and Studio SHAR. Honestly, I didn't understand a single thing that was going on in this one. But I was totally mesmerized and intrigued by these snail houses that just keep searching for and eating little balls from trees. Whatever was happening, the sound design and music were fantastic.

Watch it for yourselves down below.

4th Place: Princess Aubergine (2023)


A stop-motion animation still showing a king, a queen, and a prince, all wearing crowns and interacting with small, baby-like figures.
For my fourth favorite, I have Princess Aubergine. This one is from the Russian expat director Dina Velikovskaya and is based on the children's book "OΓΉ es-tu la princesse."

Sadly, I can only find the trailer for this one, which you can watch below.

5th Place: Once Upon a Time in Dragonville (2024)


A stop-motion poster for "Il Γ©tait une fois Γ  Dragonville..." showing a green dragon made of paper mΓ’chΓ© reading a book.
In fifth place, we have Dragonville, directed by Marika Herz. It's about a dragon who doesn't feel accepted in his native Dragonville. He gets bullied and mocked, so he decides to leave for Humanville. My thoughts? It's... ok.

Again, just the trailer for this one below.

Last Place: Kayak (2021)


The movie poster for "Kayak," which shows a close-up of a bright orange life vest with a black buckle.
And in last place, we have Kayak. This one is by five different directors (jeez! One for each minute of the short?). Look, the short is funny, but it comes last for a simple reason: I just think CGI animations are way easier to make than all the previous ones on this list, which involve painstaking stop-motion or traditional drawing. The short is amusing, but, you know... we've just seen way too much of this generic 3D look.

It's still 6 minutes well spent, anyway. You can watch it fully below.

🎬 See You Next Time

Thank you for being here, and I'll see you on my next review.

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