Ana Zanatti (born 1949) is a Portuguese theatre, film and television

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, children's

book writer {{unreferenced, date=January 2014 The book writer is the member of a musical's team who creates the book—the musical's plot, character development, and dramatic structure. Essentially, the book writer is the playwright of the musical, working ver ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and a women's- and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

-rights campaigner.

Early life

Ana Maria Zanatti Olival was born in the Portuguese capital of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

on 26 June 1949. She attended a Catholic school and, later, the historic Pedro Nunes High School, which counts two Portuguese presidents amongst its alumni. She then joined an undergraduate course in Romance

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the Faculty of Arts of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

, but left this in 1968 to join the theatre course at the National Conservatory in Lisbon. In the same year she made her theatrical debut at Lisbon's ''

Teatro da Trindade The ''Teatro da Trindade'' is a theatre in the Chiado neighbourhood of Lisbon, Portugal, built in the 19th century. It is one of the oldest theatres in Lisbon still in operation. Construction and opening In 1866, Francisco Pereira Palha de Fari ...

'' with the ''Companhia Nacional de Teatro'', directed by

Ribeirinho Ribeirinho, stage name of Francisco Carlos Lopes Ribeiro (Lisbon, 21 September 1911 – Lisbon, 7 February 1984) was a Portuguese actor and director. He started his career in theatre in 1929, and kept the connection all his life, both as an ...

. Also in 1968, she began her film career in the film ''Estrada da Vida'', directed by

Henrique Campos Henrique Campos (9 February 1909 – 18 December 1983) was a Portuguese film director. Selected filmography *''Um Homem do Ribatejo'' (1946) * ''The Holy Queen'' (1947) *''Ribatejo'' (1949) *''Cantiga da Rua'' (1950) *'' Duas Causas'' (1953) *' ...

Career

At the end of the 1960s, Zanatti was invited to be a presenter at RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, where she did

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

s for documentaries, presented TV news, hosted competitions, presented programmes about arts and presented five editions of RTP's flagship programme ''Festival da Canção'' (Festival of Song), leading to her winning an award for "Most Popular Presenter" on television. She inaugurated lunchtime broadcasts on RTP in 1970. For 12 years, she was also the institutional voice of '' Canal Odisseia'', a documentary channel. She also participated in the first Portuguese

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''Vila Faia'', which began in 1982. Zanatti has made 17 films for the cinema and television, including ''Cântico Final'' (1976), Jesus Franco's controversial ''

Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun ''Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun'' (german: Die Liebesbriefe einer portugesischen Nonne) is a 1977 West Germany, West German-Swiss film directed by Jesús Franco and produced by Erwin Dietrich, loosely based on the ''Letters of a Portuguese Nu ...

'' (1977), and ''O Lugar do Morto'' (1984). Her greatest film success was in ''O Lugar do Morto'' (

Dead Man's Seat ''Dead Man's Seat'' ( pt, O Lugar do Morto) is a 1984 Portuguese drama film directed by António-Pedro Vasconcelos. The film was selected as the Portuguese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards, but was not accepte ...

), directed by António-Pedro Vasconcelos, one of the most popular films ever made in Portugal. Following a break of six years after her theatrical debut she returned to the theatre in 1975, playing in ''Equus (play), Equus'' by Peter Shaffer at the Teatro Variedades, Lisbon, Teatro Variedades in Lisbon. She then translated the play ''The True Story of Jack the Ripper'', and produced it together with actress Zita Duarte. In all, she performed in 11 plays in Lisbon theatres. In 1984, Zanatti was invited to represent Portugal in a show commemorating the entry of Portugal and Spain into the European Economic Community, EEC, held in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. In the same year she was one of 25 women chosen to represent Portugal at the EEC's Commission on the Status of Women. In 1988, she co-authored, with Rosa Lobato de Faria, a soap opera, ''Passerelle''. This inspired her to write other television shows, both documentaries and fiction. She also continued to act in soap operas on television and was working on a television film in 2021.

Publications

In 2003 Zanatti published her first novel, ''Os Sinais do Medo'' (The Signs of Fear). This was followed by ''Agradece o Beijo'' (Thanks for the kiss) in 2005 and ''E onde é que está o Amor?'' (And where is the love?). She has also written a trilogy of children's tales and published anthologies. She has been a member of several film juries, including at the Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 2006. In 2009 she made a public presentation at a meeting held to advocate marriage for gay people, where she formally confirmed that she was a lesbian. Her fourth book, ''O sexo inútil'', (Useless Sex) was published in 2016 and addresses LGBT issues. It was the result of letters and emails sent to her by a young woman who asked her for help and with whom she corresponded for year. Zanatti's subsequent research made her realise that many people remain reluctant to reveal their true sexual nature, for fear of upsetting their families or damaging their careers.

Awards

Zanatti has won a number of awards: *1980, 1984, 1986. ''Nova Gente'' trophy. *1980. ''TV Guia'' (TV Guide) prize for most popular presenter *1986. ''Sete de Ouro'' prize for best cinema actress. *1997. Golden Globes (Portugal) for best cinema actress *2009. ''Rede Ex Aequo Award''. Rede Ex Aequo is an LGBTI youth association. *2012. ''Prémio Arco-Íris'' (Rainbow prize), in recognition of her contribution to the fight against discrimination and homophobia. This is an award given by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersexual Association (''Associação ILGA Portugal'').

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanatti, Ana Portuguese stage actresses 20th-century Portuguese actresses 21st-century Portuguese actresses Portuguese television personalities Portuguese lesbian actresses Portuguese lesbian writers Portuguese children's writers Portuguese people of Italian descent University of Lisbon alumni 1949 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese LGBT people