José Fonseca e Costa
Directing
Biography
José Fonseca e Costa was a Portuguese film director. He was one of the founders of the Portuguese Cinema Novo. Born in Angola, Costa worked as an assistant to Michelangelo Antonioni before becoming one of the leaders of Portugal's 'Young Cinema' in the 1960s.
Born: June 27, 1933
Place of Birth: Caála, Angola
Known For
Lisboa no Cinema, Um Ponto de Vista
The city during the beginning of cinema. The typical city at the time of the dictatorship. The New Lisbon of the New Cinema. Lisbon after the Revolution. The white city of foreigners. A geographical and moviegoer screenplay of Lisbon through the images of films and testimonies of several filmmakers who filmed in Lisbon.
Jogo de Mão
In a unique approach to what amounts to four pseudo-morality plays, director Monique Rutler has a street entertainer with hand puppets summarize the characters and idea of each story. The first sketch is about a young man who shines shoes for a living, and tries to keep up a relationship with two women while convincing each she is his only true love. The next story is about a man who beats up his wife when he is drunk, and sells furs for a living. One day, as she is riding in the back of his truck with the furs, he hits a bad patch and she and some furs fall out. The question is, will the woman be enterprising and leave the jerk - or not? The third tale concerns a woman looking into how much control a prostitute has over her clients, and to really find out, she becomes a prostitute herself for awhile - leading to some quite unexpected situations. The last segment handles the uglier side of the life styles of the rich and famous.
The Jew
The story of Brazilian Antônio José da Silva, a jewish poet, playwright and lawyer living in the 18th Century Lisbon, who managed to avoid Inquisition by converting himself to Catholicism, after being tortured. But his fierce criticism of Portugal's élite led him to persecution and torture, becoming kind of a scapegoat.
The Circular Triangle
Business tycoon dies in plane crash. Suspected, Georg, his main partner, Alain, a young Turkish finance, and Anna Maria, the group's proxy, are all seeking his succession.
O Desassossego de Pessoa
In the Interstices of Reality or The Cinema of António de Macedo
He was the most prolific within the New Portuguese Cinema generation. He would try western spaghetti, esoteric allegory, supernatural, and science-fiction. Without state subsidies, he would quit filmmaking in the 1990s. Who remembers António de Macedo?
Alto Bairro
In Lisbon 1950, John, 13, decides to invade the neighborhood of prostitutes, nobility and sailors, starting a new stage in his life. Today this neighborhood is reflected in a scattered public debate centered on its night life.
Velhos são os Trapos
Old people tend to be kept apart, even humiliated by the new generations. The stories and different destinies of three old persons are linked together, and the realism of it imposes itself on us.
Duplo Exilio
David is born in Portugal but lived his whole life in the US. At 24 is he accused of a crime he didn't commit and is deported to his native country.
