Ruy Alexandre Guerra Coelho Pereira (born August 22, 1931) is a Portuguese-Brazilian film director and screenwriter. Guerra was born a Portuguese citizen in Lourenço Marques (today Maputo) in Mozambique, when it was still a Portuguese colony.

Ruy Guerra
Guerra in 2010
Born
Ruy Alexandre Guerra Coelho Pereira

(1931-08-22) August 22, 1931 (age 93)
Citizenship
  • Portugal
  • Brazil
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
Years active1954–present
MovementCinema Novo
Spouses
(m. 1962; sep. 1965)
(m. 1971; died 1972)
(m. 1981; div. 1984)
Children2

Biography

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Guerra studied at IDHEC film school in Paris from 1952. In 1958 he started his career as an assistant director in several French films. He subsequently immigrated to Brazil, where he directed his first feature film, Os Cafajestes (1962). It was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival.[1]

In 1964, Guerra directed Os Fuzis, which placed him in the forefront of the emerging Cinema Novo movement. The film was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize.[2]

After that he directed the international production Tendres Chasseurs (1969) starring Sterling Hayden, and Os Deuses e os Mortos (1970). The tumultuous political landscape in 1970's Brazil forced Guerra to stop filming until 1976, when he directed A Queda. The film was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize.[3]

In 1980 he returned to Mozambique where he shot Mueda, Memória e Massacre, that country's first feature film. While in Mozambique, Guerra shot many short films and helped the creation of the National Institute for Cinema.

In 1982 Guerra shot Eréndira in Mexico, based on the work by Gabriel García Márquez. He also directed the musical comedy A Ópera do Malandro (1985), based on Chico Buarque's free theatrical adaptation of Bertold Brecht's Threepenny Opera; the TV film Os Amores Difíceis, another adaptation of García Márquez; and Kuarup (1989). In 2000 Guerra's Estorvo was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.[4] It was Guerra's third nomination in the festival, after Erêndira and Kuarup. His 2004 film Portugal S.A. was the only film he did in Portugal and entered into the 26th Moscow International Film Festival.[5]

Guerra has appeared in many films as an actor; he is perhaps best known to international audiences for his performance as the doomed Pedro de Ursúa in Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972).

Personal life

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In 1971, Guerra married Brazilian actress Leila Diniz. Diniz was killed the following year in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 471 in India.

Filmography

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Key
Indicates a work made for TV Indicates a short film
List of films directed by Ruy Guerra
Year Original title English release title Language(s) Notes
1954 Quand Le Soleil Dort French French production.
1962 Os Cafajestes The Unscrupulous Ones / The Miscreants / The Hustlers Portuguese Guerra's first Brazilian production.
1964 Os Fuzis The Guns Portuguese Brazilian-Argentinian co-production.
1969 Ternos Caçadores Sweet Hunters / Jailbird Portuguese, English Brazilian-French-Panamanian co-production.
1970 Os Deuses e os Mortos Of Gods and the Undead / Gods and the Dead Portuguese
1978 A Queda The Fall Portuguese Co-directed with Nelson Xavier.
1979 Mueda, Memória e Massacre Mueda, Memory and Massacre Portuguese Mozambican production.
1981 Histoires extraordinaires French French TV series. Director of La lettre volée episode.
1981 A Carta Roubada Portuguese Portuguese production.
1983 Eréndira Eréndira Portuguese, Spanish West German-French-Mexican co-production.
1986 Ópera do Malandro Malandro Portuguese Brazilian-French co-production.
1987 Fábula de la Bella Palomera / A Bela Palomera Fable of the Beautiful Pigeon Fancier Portuguese Brazilian-Spanish co-production.
1989 Kuarup Kuarup Portuguese
1992 Me Alquilo Para Soñar Spanish Cuban-Spanish co-production. TV miniseries, 6 episodes.
2000 Monsanto Monsanto Portuguese Portuguese production. TV movie.
2000 Estorvo Turbulence Portuguese Brazilian-Cuban-Portuguese co-production.
2004 Portugal S.A. Portugal S.A. Portuguese Portuguese production.
2006 O Veneno da Madrugada In Evil Hour Portuguese, Spanish Brazilian-Argentinian-Portuguese co-production.
2018 Quase Memória Oblivious Memory Portuguese

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "IMDB.com: Awards for Os Cafajestes". imdb.com. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  2. ^ "Berlinale 1964: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  3. ^ "Berlinale 1978: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Turbulence". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  5. ^ "26th Moscow International Film Festival (2004)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-04-07.

Further reading

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