Luís Miguel Cintra
An iconic actor and stage director in Portugal, Luís Miguel Cintra was born in Madrid, in 1949. His connection to theater began in 1968, at the Faculty of Letters Theater Group, when he was studying Romance Philology at the University of Lisbon. From 1970 to 1972, he attended the Acting Technical Course, in the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, thanks to a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. When he returned to Portugal, he founded, along with Jorge Silva Melo, the Teatro da Cornucópia Company, in 1973, where he directed plays by some of the great names in theater, including Aeschylus, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Brecht, Beckett, Strindberg, and many others, almost always participating as an actor in the plays he directed. At the same time, until the 80s, he was a theater critic for O Tempo e o Modo magazine and he managed the Seara Nova Theater Collection, from Estampa publishing house, and the Theater Collection, from Ulmeiro publishing house. As a reader, Luís Miguel Cintra recorded complete readings of Viagens na Minha Terra, by Almeida Garrett and Amor de Perdição, by Camilo Castelo Branco, as well as poems by Pessoa, Sophia de Mello Breyner, Camões, Antero de Quental and Ruy Belo. In 1987, Cintra made his debut as an opera stage director, with L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, by Ravel and Dido and Aeneas, by Purcell, at the Teatro Nacional de S. Carlos. In the following years, he directed operas by Mozart, Haydn, Cherubini, among others. He worked with the Teatro Nacional de S. Carlos Choir and the Gulbenkian Choir, as a reader, in recitals by authors such as Schubert, Liszt, Sati and Poulenc. In 1984, he entered the Venice Biennial Theater Festival with his group and in 1988 he directed the show La Mort du Prince et Autres Fragments, by Fernando Pessoa, for the Avignon Festival. Later, he kept on presenting plays in Italy, France, Spain and. Belgium In addition to the theater, Luís Miguel Cintra began his career in cinema early, making his debut in a short film by João César Monteiro. From that point until now, he worked in over 70 films, with directors like the aforementioned João César Monteiro, Paulo Rocha, Manoel de Oliveira, Joaquim Pinto, João Botelho, Teresa Villaverde, Pedro Costa and the American John Malkovich. His many awards include two Bordalo da Casa da Imprensa Awards for Best Acting in Film (1995) and Best Acting in Theater (1997), two Globos de Ouro for Theater Personality of the Year (1999) and Best Theater Actor (2003), the Coimbra University Award and the Pessoa Prize, both in 2005. The LEFFEST will pay tribute to Luís Miguel Cintra’s work as an actor, through a selection of films he starred in; and as a stage director, showing recordings of some of the plays, followed by discussions with the audience and several actors he worked with.
Photos
Films (98)
Auto da Casa
2026
Memoirs of Teatro da Cornucópia
2025
The Life of Mirrors
2025
Arrabalde
2024 · Prof. Luís
We Are on Air
2024 · Voz
Truth or Dare?
2023 · Self
O Filme Feliz :)
2023
Love Lights
2022
Pathos
2021
Pathos Ethos Logos
2021
Around Rocha’s Table
2021 · Self
A Present Light
2021
War
2020 · Cabo Mira
Manuel Casimiro - Pintar a Ideia
2018 · Narrador
Rage
2018 · Camacho
Anteroom
2018
Días color naranja
2016
Correspondences
2016
The Old Man of Belem
2014 · Luís de Camões
Illusion
2014
The New Testament of Jesus Christ According to John
2013
If I Were a Thief... I'd Steal
2013 · Vitalino
Biette
2013 · Self
Second Hand
2013 · Henrique Castro Lima
The Enclosure of Time
2013 · Louis Canterel
Gebo and the Shadow
2012 · Chamico
Demain?
2011 · Ruben Dario
The world that was (and that is)
2011 · Narrator
L'Étrange Affaire Angélica
2010 · Engenheiro
L'épée et la rose
2010 · Rosa 2
Singularités d'une jeune fille blonde
2009
O Poeta Doido, o Vitral e a Santa Morta
2008 · Narrator
Romance de Vila do Conde
2008 · Narrator
From Now On
2008 · António
Pas Perdus
2008 · (voice)
Christophe Colomb, l'énigme
2007 · Diretor Museu Porto Santo
One of Us Cannot Be Wrong
2007 · Devil
Carlos de Oliveira: Upon the Left Side
2007
Le Miroir magique
2006 · Filipe Quinta
Le cinquième empire
2004 · Simão, Sapateiro Santo
The Days When I Don’t Exist
2003 · L'oncle
Un Film Parlé
2003 · Himself
Dancer Upstairs
2002 · Calderón
The Wolf of the West Coast
2002
Le principe de l'incertitude
2002 · Daniel Roper
Rending
2001 · professor
Word and Utopia
2000 · Padre António Vieira (middle age)
The Heart's Root
2000 · Catão
Blanche-Neige
2000 · O Caçador
Moonfish
2000 · Dr. João José
Erros Meus
2000 · Luís de Camões
Capitaine d'avril
2000 · Brigadeiro Pais
Os 25 Anos do Teatro da Cornucópia
2000 · Himself
Les Noces de Dieu
1999 · God's Messenger
The Letter
1999 · M. da Silva
Inquiétude
1998 · Son
Transatlantique
1997 · Aquilino
Le Couvent
1995 · Baltar
Casa de Lava
1995 · Actor convidado
Blind Man's Bluff
1994 · Blind Man
Two Brothers, My Sister
1994 · Friend at the Apartment
Here on Earth
1993 · Miguel
Val Abraham
1993 · Carlos de Paiva
Zéfiro
1993 · Narrator
Villa Mauresque
1993 · Tiago
Poor George
1993 · Highschool Teacher Luis
Le jour du désespoir
1992 · Freitas Fortuna
Le Dernier Plongeon
1992 · Hyperion Extracts Reader (voice)
Alcibíades
1992 · Voice
The Divine Comedy
1991 · Prophet
Non, ou la Vaine Gloire de commander
1990 · 2nd Lt. Cabrita / Viriato / King John II of Portugal
Blood
1989 · The Uncle
Recollections of the Yellow House
1989 · Lívio
Where the Sun Beats
1989 · Artur (voice)
A Propósito da Bandeira Nacional
1988 · Narrator
The Cannibals
1988 · Viscount d'Aveleda
Tall Stories
1988 · Dr. Fernando
The Jester
1987 · Count of Trava
The Mountains of the Moon
1987 · João
The Distant Land
1987
My Case
1986 · L'Intrus
The Satin Slipper
1986 · Don Rodrigue
No One Twice
1985 · Carlos
Vertiges
1985 · Herbert Ardown
Lisboa Cultural
1984
Signals of Life
1984
Gestures and Fragments
1983 · Armando (voice)
Island of Loves
1982 · Wenceslau de Moraes
Silvestre
1982 · Pilgrim / Knight / D. Raimundo
E Não se Pode Exterminá-lo?
1979 · Valentin 1, Screenplay
Music for Herself
1979 · Production Assistant, Art Direction
Neither Bird Nor Fish
1978
O Outro Teatro ou As Coisas Pertencem a Quem as Torna Melhores
1977
Entremês Famoso Sobre a Pesca no Rio Minho
1974
A Pousada das Chagas
1972
Fragments of an Alms-Film
1972 · Narrator (voice)
He Goes Long Barefoot That Waits for Dead Men's Shoes
1970 · Lívio
A Morte do Príncipe
