Pedro Costa | |
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| Born | (1958-12-30)30 December 1958 (age 67) Lisbon, Portugal |
| Alma mater | University of Lisbon Lisbon Theatre and Film School |
| Occupations | Film director,screenwriter |
| Years active | 1984–present |
Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958)[1] is aPortuguesefilm director. He is best known for his sequence of films set inLisbon,[2] which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood.
After completing a degree in history from the University of Lisbon, Costa worked as an assistant for Jorge Silva Melo, Vítor Gonçalves and João Botelho.[3] He released his debut filmO Sangue at the age of 30.
Costa's films would receive acclaim from critics consistently throughout his career. He collected the France Culture Award (Foreign Cineaste of the Year) at2002 Cannes Film Festival for directingIn Vanda's Room.Colossal Youth was selected for the2006 Cannes Film Festival[4] and earned the Independent/Experimental prize (Los Angeles Film Critics Association) in 2008.Horse Money was awarded theLeopard for Best Director in 2014, while hisVitalina Varela was awarded theGold Leopard for Best Film in 2019.
He is considered to be part of "The School of Reis" film family.António Reis, Portuguese director, was his teacher at theLisbon Theatre and Film School.
His menteeship under directorsStraub–Huillet was explored in his 2001 documentary "Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?".
Stephen Whitty of Screen Daily described Costa's films as "lit like aRembrandt, [and] acted like a neo-realist classic."[5] He is acclaimed for using hisascetic style to depict marginalised people, often non-actors playing themselves, in desperate living situations. Shot on digital video and making use of non-actors, Costa's early works have been called examples ofdocufiction. Although continuing to collaborate with non-actors in his later works, he would gradually transition away from the low-resolution documentary style into what criticArmond White characterised as "museum-quality compositions".[6]
From the release of Ossos onwards, Costa's films have been entirely set in Fontainhas, a slum neighbourhood on the outskirts ofLisbon. His subjects, immigrants and the socially disadvantaged, feature as recurring characters throughout the sequence. One notable example is the character of Ventura, protagonist of bothColossal Youth andHorse Money.
In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Costa signed an open letter published inLibération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[7][8][9]
In January 2024, alongside over 300 other filmmakers, producers and actors, Costa signed an open letter against the cuts to the funding of the Argentine film agencyINCAA contemplated by the so-called omnibus bill.[10]
Pedro Costa nasceu em Lisboa, 30 de dezembro de 1958.
