João Canijo

Directing

João Canijo

Born December 10, 1957 · Porto, Portugal

Died January 29, 2026 · aged 68

João Canijo (born 10 December, 1957; Porto) is a Portuguese filmmaker. His film Get a Life was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. His 2011 film Blood of My Blood was selected as the Portuguese entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. His 2023 film Bad Living won the Silver Bear Jury Prize…

Known For

Raul Brandão was a Great Writer...Raul Brandão was a Great Writer... · 2012
Raul Brandão was a Great Writer...
4.02012
MovieDocumentary
This film is an attempt to disclose if Raul Brandão has left any trace, in Nespereira, Gumarães.
Lovely ChildLovely Child · 1990
Lovely Child
7.11990
MovieCrimeDrama
Maria is a sweet child. She hasn’t father and doesn’t like her mother. She has a boyfriend, A bandit who would like to change his class.
Lisbon StoryLisbon Story · 1994
Lisbon Story
7.21994
MovieDramaMusic
Wim Wenders' homage to Lisbon and films. A sound engineer obtains a mysterious postcard from a friend who at the moment is filming a film in Lisbon. He sets out across Europe to find him and help him.
The State of ThingsThe State of Things · 1982
The State of Things
6.41982
MovieDrama
On location in Portugal, a film crew runs out of film while making their own version of Roger Corman's The Day the World Ended (1956). The producer is nowhere to be found and director Munro attempts to find him in hopes of being able to finish the film.
In the Darkness of the NightIn the Darkness of the Night · 2004
In the Darkness of the Night
5.92004
MovieCrimeDrama
A disturbing film about the Portuguese underworld of prostitution.
Lusitanian IllusionLusitanian Illusion · 2010
Lusitanian Illusion
6.42010
MovieDocumentaryHistory
Images and sounds expose the duality of Portugal during the days of WW2: a peaceful, god-loving, rural country, providing an escape route for over one hundred thousand European refugees to the Americas; and a political and cultural elite that disguised their Nazi inclinations just enough to play its neutral role in international politics.
Bad LivingBad Living · 2023
Bad Living
4.82023
MovieDrama
In a family-run hotel near the northern coast of Portugal, several women from the same family, spanning different generations, live together. Their relationship, poisoned by bitterness, struggles to survive in the decaying hotel. The unexpected arrival of a granddaughter in this claustrophobic space provokes turmoil and rekindles latent hatreds and accumulated resentments.
In the White CityIn the White City · 1983
In the White City
7.01983
MovieDramaRomance
Fed up with the sea, Paul, a Swiss mechanic working in the noisy bowels of a merchant ship, lands in Lisbon.

Filmography

Sort
Crystal BookCrystal Book · 1994
Crystal Book
9.01994
MovieDrama
This European thriller, set in Sri Lanka, attempts to expound upon the philosophical implications of life, death, and memory. JB, an academic famed for his studies of oriental culture and alcoholic who has never recovered from his wife's suicide, returns to Sri Lanka to translate a book written on glass. It is supposed to contain Buddha's discourse upon memory. While he is there, an attractive nurse, Julia asks him to assist a young boy who wants to locate his father who is now living in a Tamil-occupied area. The Tamil terrorists will kill any trespassers. Compounding JB's conflict in deciding to go is that his former home where he lived with his wife is in that area. Unbeknownst to him, the boy is really a Tamil spy.

Production Manager