The director

Born in Leiria, Portugal, on 10 March 1939, António-Pedro Vasconcelos (married +3) is one of the most successful Portuguese directors and producers. He began his career in the late 1960s, directing and producing documentaries but rapidly moved to feature films. His first success abroad was in Venice, in 1980, where his film “Oxalá” (God Willing) was included in the festival’s official selection. Some of his films became classics of Portuguese cinema, such as “The Deadman’s Seat” (1985)[1], “In the King’s Name” (1992), also released in Portugal, Spain and France as a television series, “Jaime” (1999) [2] and “The Immortals” (2003) [3]. 

More recently, António-Pedro Vasconcelos has signed a few commercial successes, such as “Call Girl” (2007), still the biggest box office case in Portuguese cinema, and “Beauty and the Paparazzo” (2010). He is currently working on his latest film, entitled “Cats Do Not Have Vertigo”. As a producer, António-Pedro Vasconcelos worked with Paulo Branco, Manoel de Oliveira, Raul Ruiz, Wim Wenders and Alain Tanner, among others.

Antóno-Pedro Vasconcelos is a member of several professional organisations, such as the Portuguese Association of Directors, of which he was president in 1979-1984. He taught at the School of Cinema of the “Conservatório Nacional” (2003-2008) and is currently a teacher at the Actors for Cinema School, the first of its kind in Portugal. Throughout his career he has taken part in literary and journalistic events, published articles, chronicles, and critical reviews in newspapers, magazines, and books. He is also a regular participant and host in radio and television shows.

António-Pedro Vasconcelos has an extensive participation in conferences and workshops on script writing, direction of actors and history of cinema, in Portugal and abroad. As a member of the jury, he has participated in international film festivals in France (Toulon and Biarritz), Spain (Canaries) and Italy (Catolica). In 1989 he presided to the jury of EBU/EUR Award for Best Script for Television.

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[1] Best actor, Moscow International Film Festival; best soundtrack, Huelva International Film Festival.

[2] Special prize of the Jury at the San Sebastian International Film Festival; best film and best director, SIC TV Golden Globes Awards (Portugal).

[3] Best film, Moscow Law & Society International Film Festival