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"Ice Merchants" didn't bring the Oscar to Portugal

"Ice Merchants", the short film by João Gonzalez, a director from Oporto, was nominated for the Oscars, in the "Best Animated Short Film" category, but this time the golden statuette didn't come to Portugal



The winning work in this category was "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse", by Peter Baynton and Charlie Mackesy.

At the end of the Academy ceremony, João Gonzalez was accompanied by Bruno Caetano, producer of the nominated work, in a video statement to the social media, with a profound thank you to the Portuguese. "Going to the movie theater and seeing the film is a much more important award for us. The best prize they could give us," says the director. "We put our foot in the water, let the next ones come and dive into these waters," says Bruno Caetano, encouraging the Portuguese artists. "We didn't get the trophy, but you can see from our faces that we are very happy," say those responsible for "Ice Merchants".

Pedro Adão e Silva, Minister of Culture, also expressed his enthusiasm for the Porto director's achievement. "Today is a very happy day for Portuguese cinema. Congratulations to João Gonzalez and his team, who, with tenacity, ambition and determination, have created a moving film that will lead many people to discover the unique ability of animated cinema to deal with complex and adult themes," reads the Minister's official Twitter account. "The Oscars are a beginning, not an end," he concluded.

Recall that "Ice Merchants" has previously won awards at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and also received the award for best short film at the "Annie Awards" in Los Angeles, the most important American awards in animation film.

Regarding the Academy ceremony, in the remaining categories, the Best Picture Oscar went to the science fiction comedy "All in All at the Same Time", which also won the Best Original Screenplay award; Brendan Fraser was awarded the Best Actor Oscar, his first Oscar in a troubled career, for his participation in the movie "The Whale"; Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took the Best Director Oscar for their work awarded with the Best Picture title; for the same work, actresses Michelle Yeoh was awarded the Best Actress Oscar and Jamie Lee Curtis for the supporting role; also Ke Huy Quan got the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in the film "Everything Everywhere at the Same Time"; the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar went to the drama "The Voice of Women".

You can see the complete list of award winners here.

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