Cinema of Portugal

Cinema of Portugal
No. of screens544 (2013)[1]
 • Per capita5.8 per 100,000 (2011)[2]
Main distributorsZon Lusomundo Audiovisuais 51.6%
Columbia Tristar Warner 27.9%
Clmc - Multimédia 9.0%[3]
Produced feature films (2013)[1][4]
Total13
Fictional8
Animated
Documentary5
Number of admissions (2013)[1][6]
Total12,546,745
 • Per capita1.5 (2012)[5]
National films3.4%
Gross box office (2013)[1][6]
Total€65.5 million
National films€2,147,338.33 (3.3%)

The Cinema of Portugal started with the birth of the medium in the late 19th century. Cinema was introduced in Portugal in 1896 with the screening of foreign films and the first Portuguese film was Saída do Pessoal Operário da Fábrica Confiança, made in the same year. The first movie theater opened in 1904 and the first scripted Portuguese film was O Rapto de Uma Actriz (1907). The first all-talking sound film, A Severa, was made in 1931. Starting in 1933, with A Canção de Lisboa, the Golden Age would last the next two decades, with films such as O Pátio das Cantigas (1942) and A Menina da Rádio (1944). Aniki-Bóbó (1942), Manoel de Oliveira's first feature film, marked a milestone, with a realist style predating Italian neorealism by a few years. In the 1950s the industry stagnated. The early 1960s saw the birth of the Cinema Novo (literally "New Cinema") movement, showing realism in film, in the vein of Italian neorealism and the French New Wave, with films like Dom Roberto (1962) and Os Verdes Anos (1963). The movement became particularly relevant after the Carnation Revolution of 1974. In 1989, João César Monteiro's Recordações da Casa Amarela won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and in 2009, João Salaviza's Arena won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Several other Portuguese films have been in competition for major film awards like the Palme d'Or and the Golden Bear. João Sete Sete (2006) was the first Portuguese animated feature film. Portuguese cinema is significantly supported by the State, with the government's Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual giving films financial support.

  1. ^ a b c d "Cinema de Portugal 2014" (PDF). ica-ip.pt (in Portuguese). Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure – Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production – Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Country Profiles". Europa Cinemas. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Table 11: Exhibition – Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.