“Ice Merchants” hits pay-TV and streaming services

According to distributor Cinemundo, Joao Gonzalez’s animated short film, which was nominated for an Oscar, “became available for rent and purchase” from Sunday in the video club of “all national operators”, MEO, NOS, Vodafone and NOWO.

The film will also be available on the Filmin and Rakuten TV streaming platforms and on the official Cinemundo website.

In a rare initiative for a short film, “Ice Merchants” premiered in theaters on February 16 and has since been watched by more than 7,500 spectators.

The short film tells the story of a father and a young son who live in a house hanging on a cliff, and every day they make a perilous journey to sell snow in the village at the foot of the cliff.

In the daily routine of father and son, with small gestures that strengthen the relationship between them, the absence of the mother is noted.

“Ice Merchants”, which is told solely through graphic images and music by João Gonzalez, is produced by Portuguese company Cola Animation in association with the United Kingdom and France. Co-signed animators João Gonzalez and Ala Nunu.

The film had its world premiere in 2022 at Cannes Critics Week in France, where it was honored.

The Short Film Agency states that “Ice Merchants” has won nine awards at the qualifying festivals for the Academy Awards, and has won nearly 50 other prizes and special acclaims at film festivals.

The 95th Academy Awards are scheduled to take place Sunday night in Los Angeles, California (it will already be the wee hours of Monday, Lisbon time).

Also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Peter Baynton and Charlie McCheese, “The Flying Sailor” by Amanda Forbes and Wendy Tilby, “My Year of Dicks.” By Sarah Gunnarsdottir and Pamela Rippon, and “That Ostrich Told Me the World Was Fake and I Think I Believe It” by Lachlan Pendragon.