On December 20th 2024, the students in Multimedia and Communication Technologies, Pedro Loyola, Pedro Henriques, Isis Coutinho and Júlia Köche had their final project entitled ‘Viral Passion: Until Immunity Do Us Apart’ awarded Best Animated Movie in the Art Film Awards Festival. This project was supervised by Liliana Costa and Hélder Caixinha, with the participation of the INIAV researchers Margarida Duarte and Teresa Nogueira.

 The animation ‘Viral Passion: Until Immunity Do Us Apart’, by Pedro Loyola, Pedro Henriques, Isis Coutinho and Júlia Köche, which was awarded Best Animated Movie in the Art Film Awards Festival, follows the journey of Victor, a virus that invades a young woman’s body, facing natural barriers like nasal hairs and mucus. In search of an ideal host cell, Victor deceives a naive cell, triggering a battle with the NK cells, the body’s natural defenders. This microscopic adventure reveals the surprising resilience of the human body in an intense, internal war.

The animation was part of the student’s final project from in 1st cycle degree in Multimedia and Communication Technologies – PLAYMUTATION DOC: Development of an animated documentary to foster youngsters’ awareness of pathogens, and it can be watched here (https://playmutation.web.ua.pt/)

The Art Film Awards is an annual event that awards, supports, and promotes filmmakers. The results from Autumn 2024 can be consulted on the following page: https://artfilmawards.com/autumn-2024