The Oldest Film Director in the World

Manoel de Oliveira was born in Oporto, Portugal, on December 11 (but he was only registry in the next day) of 1908, to a family of wealthy industrialists. Since his early days he desired to become an actor, later he decided that it would be best to become film maker. He made some distinctive representation as actor like in the second Portuguese sound film, A Canção de Lisboa (1933).

His first film as a director was made in 1942, Aniki-Bóbó, and it was about a poor boy who lived in Oporto streets.

• Douro, Faina Fluvial (documentary, 1931)
• Estátuas de Lisboa (documentary, 1932)
• Os Últimos Temporais: Cheias do Tejo (documentary, 1937)
• Miramar, Praia das Rosas (documentary, 1938)
• Já se fabricam automóveis em Portugal (documentary, 1938)
• Famalicão (documentary, 1941)
• Aniki-Bóbó (1942)
• O Pintor e a Cidade (documentary, 1956)
• O Coração (documentary, 1958)
• O Pão (documentary, 1959)
• Acto de Primavera (1963)
• A Caça (1963)
• Villa Verdinho: Uma Aldeia Transmontana (documentary, 1964)
• As Pinturas do Meu Irmão Júlio (documentary, 1965)
• O Passado e o Presente (1971)
• Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe (1974)
• Amor de Perdição (1978)
• Francisca (1981)
• Visita ou Memórias e Confissões (1982)
• Lisboa Cultural (documentary, 1983)
• Nice... À Propos de Jean Vigo (documentary, 1983)
• Le Soulier de Satin (1985)
• Mon Cas (1987)
• A Propósito da Bandeira Nacional (1987)
• Os Canibais (1988)
• Non, ou A Vã Glória de Mandar (1990)
• A Divina Comédia (1991)
• O Dia do Desespero (1992)
• Vale Abraão (1993)
• A Caixa (1994)
• O Convento (1995)
• Party (1996)
• Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo (1997)
• Inquietude (1998)
• La Lettre (1999)
• Palavra e Utopia (2000)
• Je Rentre a la Maison (2001)
• Porto da Minha Infância (2001)
• O Princípio da Incerteza (2002)
• Momento (2002)
• Um Filme Falado (2003)
• O Quinto Império: Ontem Como Hoje (2004)
• Espelho Mágico (2005)
• Do Visível ao Invisível (2005)
• Belle Toujours (2006)
• O Improvável não é Impossível (2006)
• Cristóvão Colombo - O Enigma (2007)

• Against the Grain: On the Cinematic Vision of Manoel de Oliveira

  Randal Johnson is professor of Luso-Brazilian literature and culture at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author or editor of numerous books on Brazilian cinema, and he is currently engaged in research on Portuguese cinema, with a

• Manoel de Oliveira @ IMDb

  The Internet movie database. With lots of interesting informations.

... he is still working and he is the Portuguese film director with more awards. Since 2001, he is the oldest director in the world who is still active, and remains one of the most influential film makers in Europe.

"Cristóvão Colombo - O Enigma" (Christopher Columbus - The enigma) is the last film he directed so far and as strange as you can imagine he still have two projects in mind!

I can tell you, he is like the Oporto wine: "He only gets better, improving year after year!".