Portuguese director António-Pedro Vasconcelos, author of films such as “O Lugar do Morto” and “Os Imortais”, died in Lisbon, aged 84, his family revealed in a statement.
“The family of António-Pedro Vasconcelos informs that our A-PV left tonight, just a few days before completing 85 years of a wonderful life”, can be read in the statement released today.
Born in Leiria on March 10, 1939, António-Pedro Vasconcelos was a director, producer, critic and teacher, having founded the Centro Português de Cinema, as indicated in his biography at the Portuguese Cinema Academy.
But António-Pedro Vasconcelos is, above all, one of the greatest filmmakers of Portugal, a founding figure of the new Portuguese cinema, he created characters, told stories, put everyday life in films, brought films closer to the Portuguese public. António directed some of the greatest Portuguese films of the last decades, such as Jaime (1999), Os Gatos não Têm Vertigens (2014), Amor Impossível (2015) and Parque Mayer (2018). Throughout his incomparable career he won 2 Cannes Film Festival Awards, in 7 nominations he ended up winning 2 Portuguese Golden Globes and won 3 Portuguese Academy Awards, including the Honorary Award.
In addition to cinema, having written several box office hits, such as “A Bela e o Paparazzo” (2010), António-Pedro Vasconcelos was also a literature and cinema critic, columnist and television commentator, “with a strong civic intervention”, as he wrote José Jorge Letria in the interview book with the director, “A filmmaker condemned to be free” (2016).
One of the fields of intervention was the Peço a Palavra Association, which publicly fought against the privatization of TAP.
"Today, more than ever, we are sure that our A-PV, who fought so hard for us all to be fairer, more correct, more aware, always as serious and dignified as him, will always be an Immortal", wrote the family in statement