Authentication

User ID:

Password:

Iniciar sessão

U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

João Botelho

João Botelho 1949- Film director

João Manuel Relvas Leopoldo Botelho was born in Lamego on 11 May 1949.

He studied at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Coimbra and at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.

As a student, he was one of the leading members of the Centro de Iniciação Teatral e Académica of Coimbra (CITAC – Academic and Theatre Association) and a member of the Film Societies of Coimbra and Porto, where he consolidated his filming training.

From 1970 on, he taught at the Technical School of Matosinhos, illustrated children’s books and worked as graphic designer, in which he collaborated with Manuel António Pina.

In 1974, he studied at the School of Cinema of the National Conservatory, and in the following year he founded the magazine M, the result of his activity as a Film Critic.

His career as a film director began in 1977 with two short films for Rádio Televisão Portuguesa [the Portuguese TV network] and with the documentary feature film "Os Bonecos de Santo Aleixo", for a cooperative (Paz dos Reis).

His first feature film, Conversa Acabada, dated 1981, was based on the letters exchanged between the poets Fernando Pessoa and Mário de Sá-Carneiro.

Four years later, he became known as one of the first film directors to explore the theme of the Colonial War, with the film Um Adeus Português, praised by the critics and recipient of many international awards.

In 1988, he adapted the novel Hard Times, by Charles Dickens (1854), into a black and white film.

In the 1990s, he experimented with the telefilm No Dia dos Meus Anos (1992), part of the series Os Quatro Elementos, produced by RTP, signed the film Aqui na Terra (1993), a Luso-British co-production on the story of an economist going through middle-age crisis, did a number of short stories which he called Três Palmeiras (1994) for the Lisboa, 24 Horas project, part of the programmes for Lisboa 94, European Capital of Culture, débuted in comedy with the film Tráfico (1998) and directed the documentary Se a Memória Existe for the commemorations of the 25th anniversary of the April Revolution.

In 2001, he directed Quem és tu?, adapted from the play "Frei Luís de Sousa" by Almeida Garrett, to which he added a preamble on "sebastianismo" and the video As Mãos e as Pedras, shown at the opening of Porto 2001 – European Capital of Culture.

In 2002, he directed another comedy, A Mulher Que Acreditava Ser Presidente dos Estados Unidos (2002), a satire on the incompetent exercise of power, and in 2008, his film A Corte do Norte, based on a novel by Agustina Bessa-Luís and on the light-dark influences of Caravaggio, was selected for the 3rd International Film Festival of Rome.

In 2006, João Botelho participated in the 9th edition of the cycle Quatro + 1 / Semana do Cinema Português, an initiative sponsored by Culturporto and held at the Rivoli, where he was challenged to present one of his works and choose four other directors. The choice fell on the films Amor de Perdição, by Manoel de Oliveira (1979), Ana, by António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro (1985), Uma Abelha na Chuva (1972), by Fernando Lopes, the documentary Vilarinho das Furnas, by António Campos (1971) and his version of Tempos Difíceis by Charles Dickens.

This multifaceted professional has directed many films of various genres and has participated in many others as assistant director and even decorator.

His films have received many awards at national and international film festivals (Figueira da Foz, Antwerp, Rio de Janeiro, Venice, Berlin, Salsomaggiore, Pesaro, Belfort, Cartagena, etc.). He has twice received the OCIC Award, of Casa da Imprensa, and the Sete de Ouro. All his feature films have been shown in Portugal, many in France and some of them in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan.

In 1996, he was the topic of retrospective shows in Bergamo, including a monography of his work, and another in La Rochelle (1998).

He is a founding partner of the producer company "39 Degraus" (2000) and member no. 2645 of the Association of Friends of the Douro Museum.

In 2010, João Botelho directed Filme do Desassossego which, in his opinion, is a short version of the book Livro do Desassossego, by Bernardo Soares, the semi-heteronym of poet Fernando Pessoa.

In 2014 premiered the film Os Maias – Cenas da Vida Romântica, based on the novel by Eça de Queiroz.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2010)