"The cinema began like a fairground curiosity and little by little mobilised the artists who worked in the industry by transforming it into an artistic expression.
This is how it acquired its true longevity - I do not say ‘eternity’ for nothing is eternal here below. But as long as man lives, the cinema will live, just like the theatre, painting and literature."
Manoel de Oliveira

Director, screenwriter, actor and producer, Manoel de Oliveira, born in Portugal in 1908, is today the doyen of the community of active filmmakers. In 1931, he directed his first short, Labor on the Douro River, hailed by the international critics. For thirty years,
Salazar’s dictatorship kept him away from cinema in 1985, he presents The Satin Slipper at the Festival de Cannes. Next he directed John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve in The Convent (1995), Marcello Mastroianni in Voyage to the Beginning of the World (1997), Chiara Mastroianni and Leonor Silveira in The Letter (Jury Prize in 1998), and Michel Piccoli in I’m Going Home (2001).
Blending aesthetic contemplation and technological innovations, Manoel de Oliveira borrow from all the arts and many of his films have been inspired by literary works. In 2007, he took part in To Each His Cinema.
This year, the Festival pays tribute to him who has accompanied a century of cinema history.


On the occasion of Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira’s 100th birthday, the Festival de Cannes will pay a tribute on Monday, May 19th, to the man who accompanied a century of cinema.

On the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, in presence of Clint Eastwood and many other directors, the tribute will start with the screening of a film by Gilles Jacob: One day in Manoel de Oliveira’s life (9’). The director will then be presented with a Palme d’or for his life achievement. The event will end with the screening of his first film, Labor on the Douro River (18’).

The Portuguese director will attend the event with his wife and his grandson, Ricardo Trépa.

They will be surrounded by Ms. Christine Albanel, Minister of Culture and Communication, Mr. Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, the European Ministers of Culture, Mr. Joao Bénard Da Costa, Director of the Portuguese Film Library and Michel Piccoli and his wife.