Mark Coulier, who this year received the Oscar for Best Makeup for the film “Poor Creatures”, and Kenneth Lonergan, who also won a statuette for the script for “Manchester by the Sea”, will appear on the program “Training Ground”, which, until July 1st, runs in parallel with the screening of around 250 films at the event in the district of Aveiro and the Porto Metropolitan Area.

“It is an opportunity for professionals, emerging filmmakers, and students in the sector to deepen their cinematographic knowledge, interacting personally with renowned names who are at the forefront of the industry”, FEST director Fernando Vasquez told Lusa agency.

Other internationally renowned educators already confirmed at the Espinho festival are the American actress Melissa Leo, who received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the film “The Fighter”, and the Lebanese actress, director, and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, who directed and starred in works such as “Caramel” and “Capernaum”.

“Training Ground” will also feature Polly Duval, who took on the post-production of films such as “Mr. Turner” and “Notes on a Scandal”, and, more recently, also “Saltburn”, and is currently involved in projects on platforms such as Netflix and the BBC.

Yorgos Lamprinos and Sami Arpa are other trainers confirmed at FEST. The first is the Greek editor known for “The Custody” and an Oscar nominee in that category for his work on “The Father”; the second is the Turkish director with a PhD in Computational Aesthetics and acclaimed for his work on “The Escape” and “The Patterns”.

Among other guests, FEST will also welcome Andrew McAlpine, a production designer who stood out in films such as "The Piano", by Jane Campion, and "The Beach", by Danny Boyle, as well as the director and intimacy coordinator director David Thackeray, linked to series such as "Sex Education", "The crown" and "The White Lotus".