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
Lisbon Story · 1994Lisbon 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 Things · 1982The 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.
The Rose King · 1986The Rose King
★ 6.51986
MovieDrama
A mentally unstable woman and her son move to a sprawling mansion in Portugal to grow roses.
In the White City · 1983In 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.
Bad Living · 2023Bad 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.
The Convent · 1995The Convent
★ 5.31995
MovieMysteryDrama
The journey of Michael Padovic, an American professor who arrives with his wife, Helene, at a Portuguese convent where he expects to find the documents needed to prove his theory: Shakespeare was born in Spain; not in England.
Lusitanian Illusion · 2010Lusitanian 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.
Crystal Book · 1994Crystal 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.
Filmography
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The Rose King · 1986The Rose King
★ 6.51986
MovieDrama
A mentally unstable woman and her son move to a sprawling mansion in Portugal to grow roses.
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