Organised by the Solar – Cinematic Art Gallery, ANIMAR is a project designed to bring audiences — particularly students — closer to the creative processes behind filmmaking, through participatory experiences that combine art, education, and experimentation. Exhibitions, film screenings, workshops, and guided visits invite children and young people to discover the language of moving images and to explore cinema as a tool for expression, reflection, and learning.

This year’s exhibition is based on a selection of recent Portuguese animation films — "Because Today is Saturday", directed by Alice Eça Guimarães; "Percebes", directed by Alexandra Ramires and Laura Gonçalves; "Dog Alone", directed by Marta Reis Andrade; and "Amarelo Banana" by Alexandre Sousa — complemented by an interactive display of optical devices and objects from the animation studio CLIA Anilupa, offering insight into the visual principles and techniques behind animation.

The educational programme is one of the core pillars of ANIMAR. The Curtas – Educational Service has developed a wide range of school screenings — ANIMAR for Schools — tailored to different age groups and educational levels, combining entertainment with a pedagogical approach to audiovisual literacy. These sessions take place at the Vila do Conde Municipal Theatre, the Solar – Cinematic Art Gallery, or directly in partner schools, ensuring broad access to cinema.

In parallel, the project offers thematic workshops, screenings of the featured films, and hands-on activities, encouraging active participation while fostering creativity, imagination, and critical thinking. Based on the principle of learning through experience and play, ANIMAR promotes new ways of understanding images and developing transversal skills.

The opening session will take place on March 7th at the Vila do Conde Municipal Theatre with the screening of "Into the Wonderwoods", directed by Alexis Ducord and Vincent Paronnaud. The programme will conclude on June 6th with Animar in Celebration, presenting the films created during the workshops, and will also include an outdoor screening of the exhibition films on June 13th, at the Solar courtyard.

Over the years, ANIMAR has established itself as a national reference in film education, reaffirming the commitment of the Curtas – Educational Service to audience development and to fostering a critical, creative, and participatory relationship with audiovisual culture.