Francisco Costa

Movies

Primeira Obra
Editor
Fiction is never very far from reality. A young man, of Portuguese heritage, decides to do a PhD based on the documentary The Good People of Portugal, a work from 1980, also directed by Rui Simões. This opens the door to a parallel between the reality of the film we see and that of PREC, the moment of the studied documentary and the contemporary world, with the young Michel in between.
The Old House
Editor
An old house withers away at the heart of a village ripped in half by a road where cars no longer stop. During the dictatorship, this building was the most progressive Catholic seminary in Portugal. António, the front door neighbor, was brought up and raised a family in its shadow. Ever since the Dominican priests left, he has been its most faithful caretaker - keeper of ghosts, memories, and hallways now emptied of life. Abandoned for years, the town's former epicenter now hopes for a new life.
No País de Alice
Editor
With this trip, an intergenerational sharing begins: with Portugal present as a backdrop, the director and a little daughter wander as if in question, trying to understand the country of today.
How Many Times Have You Dreamt About Me?
Editor
Departing from extracts written by Fernando Pessoa, the characters walk through the city of Lisbon, having the streets and houses where the Poet lived as the background.
Imensa Saudade
Editor
Documentary by Rui Simões, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of Expo 98, one of the biggest exhibitions that Portugal hosted
The House
Editor
Built in the New State to control the overseas students, the House of the Students of the Empire, situated in Lisbon with delegations in Coimbra and Porto, was fundamental in the fight for independence of the Portuguese colonies. Future leaders of the Liberation Movement, like Agostinho Neto and Amílcar Cabral, passed through this meeting point. The documentary The House restores the memories of the testimonies of the survivors of the House, fictionalizing in parallel excerpts of Pepetela´s “The Generations of Utopia”.
Black Heart
Editor
A couple looks to mend their relationship and build a new home in the Azores.
From Coal to Waste - The Return to São Pedro da Cova
Editor
40 years later, Rui Simões returns to São Pedro da Cova to exhibit the photographs he took during the directing of São Pedro da Cova's films. From this reencounter a new message to the centralised powers: now it's toxic waste that is threatening people's health. 40 years later. From coal to waste, the fight goes on.
Between the Scenes
Editor
A documentary filmed during the shooting of Os Maias - (Alguns) episódios da vida romântica, the cinematic adaptation directed by João Botelho of the homonymous novel by Eça de Queirós. Following the cast in and out of scenes of the period film In-Between Scenes takes on its role as an extension to the history of the Maias family, exposing the lies of cinema, moving in between reality and fiction.
O Brilho das Cidades - A Rota do Azulejo
Editor
Amadeo, e depois
Editor
Ole António Ole
Editor
Documentary about the work and life of António Ole, one of the most notable contemporary artists from Angola.
Fatal Sin
Editor
A boy and a girl fall in love. But on the night they met, she was drunk and stoned and he took advantage of her. Although she does not remember almost anything from that night, she remembers something that may compromise their relationship.
Ensaio
Editor
A film that takes place in another movie
Cartas de Angola
Editor
Letters from Angola is a voyage into a forgotten past where several stories intersect - that of Angolan-born filmmaker Dulce Fernandes and those of the Cubans who fought in the Angolan war. A journey through today's Cuba, the film uncovers the lost connection to a land left behind and it's a poetic reflection on the fragile place of the individual in the midst of the tectonic movements of history.
In Honour of St. Gualter
Editor
Frei Gualter is sent by S. Francisco de Assis to Guimarães around 1213. The devotion to this franciscan friar started to rise and in 1577 the brotherhood of S. Gualter is created. The Gualterianas are celebrated since 1906, the new way of celebration in honor of their patron.
Desta Água...
Editor
We only understand some behaviour when we duplicate them involuntarily.
Irmãos Catita: Very Sentimental Show
Editor
Live concert of the Irmãos Catita and friends at the Ritz Club, in 1996, Very Sentimental Show. Includes bonus concerts: Cinearte 1993, and Queima das fitas Coimbra 1994. The roots of the Catitas' spirit are buried deep down the origin of time. Spread like Polibas around the World, starting from its own center of balance, elsewhere in the elevator of Grand Hotel Curia, raised by the "madrastas", a kind of so-called religious female-educator, spread amoung the Christian World, and whose main educational tool is the stick, the Catita brothers became early "stars" within the various orphanage they frequented, from French Polynésie to San Marino's Republic, through Casa Pia and the various holiday camps of the former New State, today refered to as Old State.
Tango Privado
Editor
Private Tango is the result of complicity between the interpreters and the camera. The movements initially choreographed adapt and reinvent themselves in an improvisation where the camera also becomes her interpreter.
Dawns
Editor
Documentary about "Madrugada" show: On the eve of 25th of April, 1999, took place at Praça do Comércio, in Lisbon, the performance of "Madrugada", a creation of the Theatre O Bando, commissioned by the Lisbon city council to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the "April Revolution".