Luís Miguel Cintra
Acting · Production
Born April 29, 1949, Madrid, Spain
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.
Filmography
- 2026Auto da Casa
- 2025Memoirs of Teatro da Cornucópia
- 2025The Life of Mirrors
- 2024Arrabalde — Prof. Luís
- 2024We Are on Air — Voz
- 2023O Filme Feliz :)
- 2022Love Lights
- 2021A Present Light
- 2021Pathos
- 2021Pathos Ethos Logos
- 2020War — Cabo Mira
- 2018Anteroom
- 2018Manuel Casimiro - Pintar a Ideia — Narrador
- 2018Rage — Camacho
- 2016Correspondences
- 2016Días color naranja
- 2014Illusion
- 2014The Old Man of Belem — Luís de Camões
- 2013If I Were a Thief... I'd Steal — Vitalino
- 2013Second Hand — Henrique Castro Lima
- 2013The Enclosure of Time — Louis Canterel
- 2013The New Testament of Jesus Christ According to John
- 2012Gebo and the Shadow — Chamico
- 2011Demain? — Ruben Dario
- 2011The world that was (and that is) — Narrator
- 2010The Strange Case of Angelica — Engenheiro
- 2010The Sword and the Rose — Rosa 2
- 2009Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl
- 2008From Now On — António
- 2008O Poeta Doido, o Vitral e a Santa Morta — Narrator
- 2008Pas Perdus — (voice)
- 2008Romance de Vila do Conde — Narrator
- 2007Carlos de Oliveira: Upon the Left Side
- 2007Christopher Columbus, The Enigma — Diretor Museu Porto Santo
- 2007One of Us Cannot Be Wrong — Devil
- 2006Magic Mirror — Filipe Quinta
- 2004The Fifth Empire — Simão, Sapateiro Santo
- 2003The Days When I Don’t Exist — L'oncle
- 2002The Dancer Upstairs — Calderón
- 2002The Uncertainty Principle — Daniel Roper
- 2002The Wolf of the West Coast
- História do Cinema Português
- 2001Rending — professor
- 2000April Captains — Brigadeiro Pais
- 2000Erros Meus — Luís de Camões
- 2000Moonfish — Dr. João José
- 2000Snow White — O Caçador
- 2000The Heart's Root — Catão
- 2000Word and Utopia — Padre António Vieira (middle age)
- 1999The Letter — M. da Silva
- 1999The Spousals of God — God's Messenger
- 1998Inquietude — Son
- 1997Transatlantique — Aquilino
- 1995Casa de Lava — Actor convidado
- 1995The Convent — Baltar
- 1994Blind Man's Bluff — Blind Man
- 1994Two Brothers, My Sister — Friend at the Apartment
- 1993Abraham's Valley — Carlos de Paiva
- 1993Here on Earth — Miguel
- 1993Poor George — Highschool Teacher Luis
- 1993Villa Mauresque — Tiago
- 1993Zéfiro — Narrator
- 1992Alcibíades — Voice
- 1992Day of Despair — Freitas Fortuna
- 1992The Last Dive — Hyperion Extracts Reader (voice)
- 1991The Divine Comedy — Prophet
- 1990No, or the Vain Glory of Command — 2nd Lt. Cabrita / Viriato / King John II of Portugal
- 1989Blood — The Uncle
- 1989Recollections of the Yellow House — Lívio
- 1989Where the Sun Beats — Artur (voice)
- 1988A Propósito da Bandeira Nacional — Narrator
- 1988Tall Stories — Dr. Fernando
- 1988The Cannibals — Viscount d'Aveleda
- 1987The Distant Land
- 1987The Jester — Count of Trava
- 1987The Mountains of the Moon — João
- 1986My Case — L'Intrus
- 1986The Satin Slipper — Don Rodrigue
- 1985No One Twice — Carlos
- 1985Vertiges — Herbert Ardown
- 1984Lisboa Cultural
- 1984Signals of Life
- 1983Gestures and Fragments — Armando (voice)
- 1982Island of Loves — Wenceslau de Moraes
- 1982Silvestre — Pilgrim / Knight / D. Raimundo
- 1979E Não se Pode Exterminá-lo? — Valentin 1, Screenplay
- 1979Music for Herself — Production Assistant, Art Direction
- 1978Neither Bird Nor Fish
- 1977O Outro Teatro ou As Coisas Pertencem a Quem as Torna Melhores
- 1974Entremês Famoso Sobre a Pesca no Rio Minho
- 1972A Pousada das Chagas
- 1972Fragments of an Alms-Film — Narrator (voice)
- 1970He Goes Long Barefoot That Waits for Dead Men's Shoes — Lívio
- A Morte do Príncipe
Appearances as themselves (5)
- 2023Truth or Dare? — Self
- 2021Around Rocha’s Table — Self
- 2013Biette — Self
- 2003A Talking Picture — Himself
- 2000Os 25 Anos do Teatro da Cornucópia — Himself