Ricardo Costa (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
Ricardo Costa is a Portuguese
film director
and producer
.
Most of his filmography consists of documentary
films, many of them being contaminated by fiction (docufiction
and ethnofiction
). He uses the techniques of direct cinema
, non only as a tool for practising salvage ethnography
but also as an instrument which helps him to compose a sober, "musical" and poetic narrative, suitable for common audiences.
His latest feature film, Mists
, was selected for the 60th Venice Film Fetival (2003).
University. After submitting a thesis
on the novels of Kafka (Franz Kafka
: writing in the mirror), he obtained a PHD
in 1969. He was a high school teacher and owned a company (MONDAR editors), where he published a number of sociological texts and avant-garde
papers, literature and cinema. After the Carnation Revolution
in 1974, he became a filmmaker. He was a partner of Grupo Zero, with other filmmakers like João César Monteiro, Jorge Silva Melo and Alberto Seixas Santos. Later, he became an independent producer with the company Diafilme, where he produced several of his films and some of other directors. He is the author of essays on cinema
, vision
and language
. He organizes film projections and cycles in Paris (Cinémathèque Française
and Musée de l’Homme). Shot on the threshold of documentary
and fiction
, Brumas (Mists) is his latest feature film
(Venice Film Festival
- New Territories, 2003).
In some way moved by the idea that explains one sentence of Marcel Mauss
, a well-known French sociologist and anthropologist, (There is more poetry in a grain of reality than in the brain of a poet), certain Portuguese film-makers, specially after the Carnation Revolution
, traveled around their country, from one end to another, camera in hand. With state funds or in co-production with the national broadcast TV station, the RTP
, some made "engaged films" (cinéma engagé, i.e. political cinema
), but never with lack of charm, others make films in which reality
, as an expression of actual events, appears with that poetical charge, as Mauss refers. Films shot with low budgets, but in full liberty. Films portraying reality, a genre
to which all those productions fit, would last for a few years and would generate important or even remarkable works, some of which were forgotten.
Costa, who identifies himself more with that simple idea than with the purpose of changing the world, cultivates a style
in which reality turns into poetical expression, into human portrait
, into an interrogation point about a time which escapes to time, without restriction to the place in which such reality, once captured, takes place. The mise en scène
, the fictional attraction, will be for him a permanent temptation.
-----------------------------------
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
.
Most of his filmography consists of documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
films, many of them being contaminated by fiction (docufiction
Docufiction
Docufiction is a neologism which refers to the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction. More precisely, it is a documentary contaminated with fictional elements, in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which someone - the character - plays his own role in real life...
and ethnofiction
Ethnofiction
Ethnofiction is a neologism which refers to an ethnographic docufiction sub-genre, a blend of documentary and fiction film in the area of visual anthropology. It is a film style in which the portrayed characters play their own roles as members of an ethnic or social group.Jean Rouch is considered...
). He uses the techniques of direct cinema
Direct Cinema
Direct Cinema is a documentary genre that originated between 1958 and 1962 in North America, principally in the Canadian province of Quebec and the United States...
, non only as a tool for practising salvage ethnography
Salvage ethnography
Salvage ethnography is a term used by anthropologists beginning in the 1960s used as part of a critique of 19th century ethnography and early modern anthropology. The term was coined by Jacob Gruber, who identified its emergence with 19th century ethnographers documenting the languages of peoples...
but also as an instrument which helps him to compose a sober, "musical" and poetic narrative, suitable for common audiences.
His latest feature film, Mists
Mists
Mists , 2003, is a Portuguese feature-length film by Ricardo Costa.It is an auto-biography, a voyage to childhood. Shot with no state funds it is an art film. Formal simplicity – associated with a non conventional, sober and fluid narrative of time and human condition – is common to most of...
, was selected for the 60th Venice Film Fetival (2003).
Biography
Costa completed his studies in 1967 at the Faculty of Arts at the LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
University. After submitting a thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
on the novels of Kafka (Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
: writing in the mirror), he obtained a PHD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1969. He was a high school teacher and owned a company (MONDAR editors), where he published a number of sociological texts and avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
papers, literature and cinema. After the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
in 1974, he became a filmmaker. He was a partner of Grupo Zero, with other filmmakers like João César Monteiro, Jorge Silva Melo and Alberto Seixas Santos. Later, he became an independent producer with the company Diafilme, where he produced several of his films and some of other directors. He is the author of essays on cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, vision
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
. He organizes film projections and cycles in Paris (Cinémathèque Française
Cinémathèque Française
The Cinémathèque Française holds one of the largest archives of films, movie documents and film-related objects in the world. Located in Paris, the Cinémathèque holds daily screenings of films from around the world.-History:...
and Musée de l’Homme). Shot on the threshold of documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
and fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
, Brumas (Mists) is his latest feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
(Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
- New Territories, 2003).
In some way moved by the idea that explains one sentence of Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss was a French sociologist. The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss' academic work traversed the boundaries between sociology and anthropology...
, a well-known French sociologist and anthropologist, (There is more poetry in a grain of reality than in the brain of a poet), certain Portuguese film-makers, specially after the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
, traveled around their country, from one end to another, camera in hand. With state funds or in co-production with the national broadcast TV station, the RTP
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....
, some made "engaged films" (cinéma engagé, i.e. political cinema
Political cinema
Political cinema in the narrow sense of the term is a cinema which portrays current or historical events or social conditions in a partisan way in order to inform or to agitate the spectator...
), but never with lack of charm, others make films in which reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
, as an expression of actual events, appears with that poetical charge, as Mauss refers. Films shot with low budgets, but in full liberty. Films portraying reality, a genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
to which all those productions fit, would last for a few years and would generate important or even remarkable works, some of which were forgotten.
Costa, who identifies himself more with that simple idea than with the purpose of changing the world, cultivates a style
Style (fiction)
In fiction, style is the manner in which the author tells the story. Along with plot, character, theme, and setting, style is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.-Fiction-writing modes:...
in which reality turns into poetical expression, into human portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
, into an interrogation point about a time which escapes to time, without restriction to the place in which such reality, once captured, takes place. The mise en scène
Mise en scène
Mise-en-scène is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means "visual theme" or "telling a story"—both in visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design, and in poetically artful ways through direction...
, the fictional attraction, will be for him a permanent temptation.
Feature films
- 1976 : Avieiros - Avieiros, Tagus fishermen
- 1976 : Mau Tempo, Marés e Mudança - Changing TidesChanging TidesChanging Tides is a Portuguese feature-length film by Ricardo Costa, his first docufiction, preceding Bread and Wine and Mists ....
- 1979 : Castro Laboreiro - Castro Laboreiro
- 1979 : Pitões, aldeia do Barroso - Pitões, a village of Barroso
- 1980 : Verde por fora, vermelho por dentroVerde por fora, vermelho por dentroVerde por fora, vermelho por dentro is a 1979 Portuguese feature film directed and produced by Ricardo Costa.-History:...
- Green outside, red inside - 1981 : O Pão e o VinhoO Pão e o VinhoO Pão e o Vinho is a 1981 Portuguese documentary feature film produced and directed by Ricardo Costa, his second docufiction after Changing Tides – 1996/7...
- Bread and Wine (film) - 1981 : Longe é a cidadeLonge é a cidadeLonge é a cidade – Far is the city is a Portuguese documentary film directed and produced by Ricardo Costa.-Synopsis:The film is part three of the tetralogy Homem Montanhês...
- Far is the City - 1981 : Ao Fundo desta Estrada - Further ahead on this road
- 1985 : O Nosso Futebol - Our Football Game
- 2003 : MistsMistsMists , 2003, is a Portuguese feature-length film by Ricardo Costa.It is an auto-biography, a voyage to childhood. Shot with no state funds it is an art film. Formal simplicity – associated with a non conventional, sober and fluid narrative of time and human condition – is common to most of...
- Brumas - Detailed information about these films (English, French and Portuguese)
Short and middle-length films
- 1974 : No Fundo de Tróia (26') - On the Bottom of Troia
- 1974 : Apanhadores de Algas (28') - Seaweed Catchers
- 1974 : Ágar-Ágar (27') - Agar-agar
- 1975 : Tresmalho (27') - Drifting
- 1975 : O Trol (25') - Long-lining
- 1975 : O Arrasto (29') - Trawling
- 1975 : Oceanografia Biológica (28') - Biological Oceanography
- 1975 : Ti Zaragata e a Bateira (27') - Uncle Zaragata and his Boat
- 1975 : Pesca da Sardinha (29') - Sardine Fishing
- 1975 : Conchinha do Mar (26') - Sea Shell
- 1975 : Às vezes custa (27') - Sometimes it's hard
- 1975 : A Sacada (26') - The Miracle Fishing
- 1976 : Os Irmãos Severo e os Cem Polvos (29') - The Brothers Severo and the Hundred Octopuses
- 1976 : À Flor do Mar (29') - On the Waterline
- 1976 : A Colher (29') - The Spoon
- 1976 : O Velho e o Novo (28') - Old and New
- 1976 : A Falta e a Fartura (26') - Lack and Wealth
- 1976 : Quem só muda de Camisa (28') - Changing his Shirt
- 1976 : A Máquina do Dinheiro (28') - The Money Machine
- 1976 : Viver do Mar (28') - Living on Sea
- 1976 : Uma Perdiz na Gaiola (26') - A Perdix in Cage
- 1976 : Nas Voltas do Rio (30') - On the River
- 1976 : O Submarino de Vidro (28') - The Glass Submarine
- 1976 : April Carnations - Cravos de Abril (40’) - The Carnation RevolutionCarnation RevolutionThe Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
in Portugal - 1977 : Sea born (38') - E do Mar Nasceu
- 1978 : Música do Quotidiano (25') - Everyday Music
- 1978 : Abril no Minho (50’) - April in Minho
- 1979 : A Lampreia (6’) - The Lamprey
- 1979 : A Coca (13’) - Saint GeorgeSaint GeorgeSaint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
and the DragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern... - 1979 : Histórias de Baçal - Stories of Baçal
- 1979 : Esta aldeia, Rio de Onor - This Village, Rio de Onor
- 1979 : O Pisão (13’) - The Fulling Mill
- 1979 : A Feira (7’) - The Village Market
- 1979 : O Outro Jogo (6’) - The Other Game
- 1980 : Joaquim da Loiça - Joaquim da Loiça
- 1980 : Pastores da Serra da Estrela (8’) - Shepheards of Serra da Estrela
- 1980 : Barcos de Peniche (13’) - Ships of Peniche
- 1980 : O Parque Nacional de Montesinho (50’) - The National Park of Montesinho
- 1982 : Lisbon and the Sea Lisbon and the International Court for the Law of the Sea for the UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
- Detailed information about these films (English, French and Portuguese)
Other genres
- 1989 - 2006 Paroles : Interviews with Jean RouchJean RouchJean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist.He is considered to be one of the founders of the cinéma vérité in France, which shared the aesthetics of the direct cinema spearheaded by Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert and David Maysles...
- long version, three parts version and TV version (in French)
See also
- Cinema of PortugalCinema of PortugalPortuguese cinema has a long tradition, reaching back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century. In the 1950s, Cinema Novo, sprang up as a movement concerned with showing realism in film, in the vein of Italian Neorealism and the French New Wave...
- Novo Cinema
- DocufictionDocufictionDocufiction is a neologism which refers to the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction. More precisely, it is a documentary contaminated with fictional elements, in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which someone - the character - plays his own role in real life...
- Visual anthropologyVisual anthropologyVisual anthropology is a subfield of cultural anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media...
- Ethnographic filmEthnographic filmAn ethnographic film is a documentary film related to the methods of ethnology. It emerged in the 1960s as an important tool for research in the domain of visual anthropology, when filming human groups in society...
- Salvage ethnographySalvage ethnographySalvage ethnography is a term used by anthropologists beginning in the 1960s used as part of a critique of 19th century ethnography and early modern anthropology. The term was coined by Jacob Gruber, who identified its emergence with 19th century ethnographers documenting the languages of peoples...
- EthnofictionEthnofictionEthnofiction is a neologism which refers to an ethnographic docufiction sub-genre, a blend of documentary and fiction film in the area of visual anthropology. It is a film style in which the portrayed characters play their own roles as members of an ethnic or social group.Jean Rouch is considered...
- Direct cinemaDirect CinemaDirect Cinema is a documentary genre that originated between 1958 and 1962 in North America, principally in the Canadian province of Quebec and the United States...
Bibliographic references
- O Cais do Olhar by José de Matos-CruzJosé de Matos-CruzJosé de Matos-Cruz is a Portuguese writer, journalist, editor, high-school teacher, investigator, encyclopedist. From 1980 to 2010, he works at the Cinemateca Portuguesa , in Lisbon...
, Portuguese Cinematheque, 1999 - Ricardo Costa and the flowing pictures, article by José de Matos-Cruz
Other References
- Ricardo Costa (home)
- Feature-length films
- Short and middle-length films
- Ricardo Costa - Portuguese Cinema
- Ricardo Costa – article in Portuguese and Lithuanian
-----------------------------------
- Cycle – Cinémathèque Française, Paris (from the 9th to the 20th October 2002). See preess-release: page 1, page 2, page 3 (in French)
- Ricardo Costa : A Look at Portugal – Cineurope
- Ricardo Costa - Forum
