MONSTRA | Festival de Animação de Lisboa
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ABSTRACT DAY

Abstract Day returns to MONSTRA in 2026 with a special programme dedicated to the history and vitality of abstract animation. The day begins with a masterclass on the origins of abstract film and its roots in music and fine arts, followed by a screening of the best in contemporary abstract animation. Cinemateca Portuguesa will host a 16 mm retrospective of Len Lye, one of the field’s key pioneers, and the programme culminates the following day with JazzAnim, an audiovisual concert where abstract animation and live music merge in real time.

Best of Punto y Raya 2025

Finalist and award-winning films from the 9th edition of Punto y Raya Festival, held in December 2025 in Sofia, Bulgaria. A curatorship of Ana Santos and Noel Palazzo, in a programme which brings together 15 works from 12 countries, exploring abstraction through diverse approaches and techniques, from hand-drawn animation to AI-generated processes. Punto y Raya champions audiovisual art in its purest state: Form, Colour, Motion and Sound. Reviving the legacy of 1920s Absolute Film, the festival consolidates this singular artform at the crossroads of Fine Arts and Media.

18 March | CINEMA SÃO JORGE | 14:15

tickets available

Films in this Session +

Len Lye - 125 Years

Celebrating 125 years since the birth of Len Lye (1901–1980), this retrospective presents a selection of his films screened in 16 mm, honouring the material vitality of his work. A pioneer of direct animation and kinetic cinema, Lye transformed film into pure movement, rhythm and energy. Painted, scratched and animated directly onto celluloid, his films remain radical expressions of motion and sound, reaffirming his enduring influence on abstract animation and experimental cinema. A curatorship from Ana Santos and Noel Palazzo, artistic directors of Punto y Raya Festival.

18 March | CINEMATECA PORTUGUESA | 19:00

tickets available

Films in this Session +
Colour Flight

Colour Flight

Len Lye . 4'
Free Radicals

Free Radicals

Len Lye . 5'
Tusalava

Tusalava

Len Lye . 11'
Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope

Len Lye . 4'
Tal Farlow

Tal Farlow

Len Lye . 2'
Particles in Space

Particles in Space

Len Lye . 4'
Musical Poster

Musical Poster

Len Lye . 4'
Color Cry

Color Cry

Len Lye . 4'
A Colour Box

A Colour Box

Len Lye . 4'
Swinging the Lambeth Walk

Swinging the Lambeth Walk

Len Lye . 4'
Rainbow Dance

Rainbow Dance

Len Lye . 5'

Other SECTIONS

CEREMONIES

INVITED COUNTRY

FEATURE FILMS COMPETITION

LONG SHORTS FILMS COMPETITION

SHORT FILMS COMPETITION

SUPERSHORTS COMPETITION

STUDENT FILMS COMPETITION

VASCO GRANJA PORTUGUESE FILMS COMPETITION

PERSPECTIVES COMPETITION

MONSTRINHA

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

ANIM

RETROSPECTIVES AND TRIBUTES

CLASSICS

ABSTRACT DAY

NATURE

INDUSTRY

ANIMATION AND OTHER ARTS

SPECIAL EVENTS

UNIVERSES

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