João Manuel Relvas Leopoldo Botelho (born 1949) is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

film director. He has directed and written the screenplays of numerous films. His films have won several awards. His works have been nominated for the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

's Golden Lion. Botelho was awarded the prestigious Ordem do Infante D.Henrique (Grau Comendador), one of the highest Portuguese honors, by President

Jorge Sampaio Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (; 18 September 1939 – 10 September 2021) was a Portuguese lawyer and politician who was the 18th president of Portugal from 1996 to 2006. A member of the Socialist Party, a party which he led between 1989 a ...

on 10 June 2005.

Early years

Botelho was born in Lamego, northern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. He enrolled in mechanical engineering at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...

and in cinema at the

Lisbon Theatre and Film School The Lisbon Theatre and Film School (''Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema'') of the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon inherited the function of the National Conservatoire, founded by Almeida Garrett, in 1836, and of teaching Film, introduced in the ...

(Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema), in 1974, dropping out in both cases. He has worked as a graphic artist. His first cinematographic works were ''O Alto do Cobre'' and ''Um Projecto de Educação Popular'', both in 1976.

Awards

*In 1985, he won the Tucano de Ouro for Best Director at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival for ''Um Adeus Português''. *Nominated for the Golden Globes, Portugal in 1999 for Best Director and Best Film for ''Tráfico'' *OCIC Promotional Award, Forum of New Cinema for: ''Um Adeus Português'' in the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

, 1986. *

Audience Award An audience award is typically an award at a film festival (or some other type of cultural festival or similar competition) which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics. Example ...

for '' A Corte do Norte'', Coimbra Caminhos do Cinema Português Festival 2009. *Special Mention for '' A Corte do Norte'' in the

Rome Film Fest International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

, in 2008. Several nominations and awards in the

: *Nominated to

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...

for ''O Fatalista'' in 2005, ''Quem És Tu?'' in 2001 and ''Tráfico'' in 1998. *Won the Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award for ''Quem És Tu?'' in 2001 and had a

FIPRESCI Prize The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

– Honorable Mention in 1988 for ''Tempos Difíceis''.

Special participations in festivals

*Member of the jury of the 29th

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organi ...

, held in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, Brazil, from 21 October to 3 November 2005. *Member of the jury of the 27th

Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both ca ...

, held 22–29 November 2005 in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France. *Honored with a tribute by the Festival Cinéma du Réel in Paris (France) in March 2006. *Honored with a tribute by the Festival Internacional du Film de

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

(France) in June and July 1999.

Filmography

The following films were directed by Botelho. For all except ''Um Projecto De Educação Popular'', ''O Alto Do Cobre'', ''No Dia Dos Meus Anos'', ''13 Filmes X 3'', ''As Mãos E As Pedras'', and ''Viagem Ao Coração Do Douro, A Terra Onde Nasci'', he also wrote the screenplay. *''O Alto do Cobre'' (1976, Short) *''Um Projecto de Educação Popular'' (1976, Short) *''Os Bonecos de Santo Aleixo'' (1977, Feature documentary) *''Alexandre Rosa'' (1978) , Short with Jorge Alves da Silva – Premiere in Semaine des Cahiers – Paris, cinema Action République *''Conversa Acabada'' (1980, ''The Other One'') , Premiere in

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festi ...

*'' A Portuguese Goodbye'' (1985, ''A Portuguese Farewell'') , Premiere in Festival of London, Rio de Janeiro – Tucano de Ouro, New Film, New Directors, MOMA New York, Forum of Berlin *'' Tempos Difíceis'' (1988, ''Hard Times'') , Premiere in

, official selection, competition – award of Italian critics-, Festival of New York,

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

*''No Dia dos Meus Anos'' (1991, ''On My Birthday'') , On demand of RTP/ARTE sur les 4 éléments; premiere in Festival of Locarno, official selection, competition *'' Aqui na Terra'' (1993, '' Here on Earth'') ,

official selection, competition; film selected to the day of Europe, exhibition simultaneously in Germany, France and Portugal. *'' Três Palmeiras'' (1994, ''Three Palm Trees'') , On demand of Lisbon 94, European Capital of Culture; premiere in

Quinzaine des Réalisateurs The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

*''13 Filmes X 3’'' (1996) , for ''Trio de Quattro'', RTP *''Tráfico'' (1998, ''Traffic'') , Premiere in

, official selection, competition *''Se a Memória Existe'' (1999, Digital Video, 30’) , – commande pour le 25eme anniversaire du 25 Avril; première au Festival de Venise, nouveaux territoires *''Quem És Tu?'' (2001) ,

, official selection, competition; Mimo Rotella Award for Best Artistic Contribution in

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

*''As Mãos e as Pedras'' (2001, Digital Video, 12’) , Opening Film of Porto 2001, European Capital of Culture *''A Mulher que Acreditava ser Presidente dos Estados Unidos da América'' (2003, ''The Woman Who Believed She Was President of the United States'') , Premiere in

, Quinzaine dés Réalisateurs, opening film *''A Luz na Ria Formosa'' (2005, Documentário, Digital Video, 50’) , Festival DocLisboa and selected officially in Turin Film Festival, Cinema de Reel, Paris, Vienna, Áustria and Festival di Popolo, Florence *''O Fatalista'' (2005, ''The Fatalist'') , Premiere in

, official selection, competition;

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, Sevilha, Mostra de São Paulo, etc. *''A Baleia Branca, Uma Ideia de Deus'' (2006, Documentary, 50’, Digital Video) , On RTP demand to the worldwide theatre play day to the show Moby Dick, in Municipal Theatre of São Luiz *''A Terra Antes do Céu'' (2007, Documentary, 50’, Digital Video) , On demand of Direcção Geral de Cultura do Norte to the commemorations of the birth's century of

Miguel Torga Miguel Torga (), pseudonym of Adolfo Correia da Rocha ( São Martinho de Anta, Sabrosa, Vila Real district, 12 August 1907 – Coimbra, 17 January 1995), is considered one of the greatest Portuguese writers of the 20th century. He wrote poe ...

, a great poet and storyteller of the Portuguese twentieth century *'' Corrupção'' (2007, ''Corruption'') , This film was not signed by João Botelho, which was motivated by a dispute with the producer *'' A Corte do Norte'' (2009, '' The Northern Land'') , Premiere in

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

, Special Mention in Festival Internazionale del Film Di Roma, Italy *''Filme do Desassossego'' (2010), based on

The Book of Disquiet ''The Book of Disquiet'' () is a work by the Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935). Published posthumously, ''The Book of Disquiet'' is a fragmentary lifetime project, left unedited by the author, who introduced it as a "factless autobio ...

, by Bernado Soares, a semi-heteronym by

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa (; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopher, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and ...

*'' Os Maias - Cenas da Vida Romântica'' (2014), based on the novel

Os Maias ''Os Maias: Episódios da Vida Romântica'' ("The Maias: Episodes of Romantic Life") is a realist novel by Portuguese author Eça de Queiroz. ''Maia'' is the name of the fictional family the novel is about. As early as 1878, while serving in t ...

by Eça de Queirós *'' Peregrinação'' (2017), based on the novel Peregrinação by

Fernão Mendes Pinto Fernão Mendes Pinto (; c.1509 – 8 July 1583) was a Portuguese explorer and writer. His voyages are recorded in ''Pilgrimage'' ( pt, Peregrinação) (1614), his autobiographical memoir. The historical accuracy of the work is debatable due t ...

*'' O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis'' (2020), based on the novel O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis by

José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE ComSE GColCa (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which hecon ...

*'' O Jovem Cunhal'' (2022) *'' Um Filme em Forma de Assim'' (2022)

References

* "RAMOS, Jorge Leitão". ''Dicionário do Cinema Português (1962–1988)''. Editorial Caminho, SA,

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. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, 1989 *''O Cais do Olhar'', by

José de Matos-Cruz José de Matos-Cruz (born 9 February 1947) is a Portuguese writer, journalist, editor, high-school teacher, investigator, encyclopedist. From 1980 to 2010, he worked at the ''Cinemateca Portuguesa'' (Portuguese Film Archive) in Lisbon. He is a pr ...

, Portuguese Cinematheque, 1999

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Botelho, Joao 1949 births Living people People from Lamego Portuguese film directors University of Coimbra alumni Lisbon Theatre and Film School alumni