Luis Miguel Cintra
Acting • Born 1949-04-29
Biography
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
96 credits
Word and Utopia
Movie • 2000
Padre António Vieira (middle age)
My Case
Movie • 1986
L'Intrus
Recollections of the Yellow House
Movie • 1989
Lívio
No, or the Vain Glory of Command
Movie • 1990
2nd Lt. Cabrita / Viriato / King John II of Portugal
The Divine Comedy
Movie • 1991
Prophet
Gebo and the Shadow
Movie • 2012
Chamico
Romance de Vila do Conde
Movie • 2008
Narrator
The Satin Slipper
Movie • 1986
Don Rodrigue
Second Hand
Movie • 2013
Henrique Castro Lima
Here on Earth
Movie • 1993
Miguel
Demain?
Movie • 2011
Ruben Dario
The Days When I Don’t Exist
Movie • 2003
L'oncle
Tall Stories
Movie • 1988
Dr. Fernando
Blind Man's Bluff
Movie • 1994
Blind Man
Moonfish
Movie • 2000
Dr. João José
Rending
Movie • 2001
professor
Truth or Dare?
Movie • 2023
Self
If I Were a Thief... I'd Steal
Movie • 2013
Vitalino
The New Testament of Jesus Christ According to John
Movie • 2013
A Pousada das Chagas
Movie • 1972
Blood
Movie • 1989
The Uncle
Day of Despair
Movie • 1992
Freitas Fortuna
Poor George
Movie • 1993
Highschool Teacher Luis
Love Lights
Movie • 2022
Around Rocha’s Table
Movie • 2021
Self
The Old Man of Belem
Movie • 2014
Luís de Camões
Where the Sun Beats
Movie • 1989
Artur (voice)
The Fifth Empire
Movie • 2004
Simão, Sapateiro Santo
Transatlantique
Movie • 1997
Aquilino
Alcibíades
Movie • 1992
Voice
The Convent
Movie • 1995
Baltar
O Filme Feliz :)
Movie • 2023
Magic Mirror
Movie • 2006
Filipe Quinta
The Dancer Upstairs
Movie • 2002
Calderón
Arrabalde
Movie • 2024
Prof. Luís
The Sword and the Rose
Movie • 2010
Rosa 2
The Spousals of God
Movie • 1999
God's Messenger
Correspondences
Movie • 2016
Carlos de Oliveira: Upon the Left Side
Movie • 2007
Lisboa Cultural
Movie • 1984
Días color naranja
Movie • 2016
One of Us Cannot Be Wrong
Movie • 2007
Devil
Abraham's Valley
Movie • 1993
Carlos de Paiva
The world that was (and that is)
Movie • 2011
Narrator
Casa de Lava
Movie • 1995
Actor convidado
Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl
Movie • 2009
Christopher Columbus, The Enigma
Movie • 2007
Diretor Museu Porto Santo
A Talking Picture
Movie • 2003
Himself
The Letter
Movie • 1999
M. da Silva
The Uncertainty Principle
Movie • 2002
Daniel Roper
April Captains
Movie • 2000
Brigadeiro Pais
Silvestre
Movie • 1982
Pilgrim / Knight / D. Raimundo
The Strange Case of Angelica
Movie • 2010
Engenheiro
The Heart's Root
Movie • 2000
Catão
Island of Loves
Movie • 1982
Wenceslau de Moraes
Inquietude
Movie • 1998
Son
The Cannibals
Movie • 1988
Viscount d'Aveleda
Two Brothers, My Sister
Movie • 1994
Friend at the Apartment
The Mountains of the Moon
Movie • 1987
João
Rage
Movie • 2018
Camacho
He Goes Long Barefoot That Waits For Dead Men's Shoes
Movie • 1970
Lívio
From Now On
Movie • 2008
António
Vertiges
Movie • 1985
Herbert Ardown
A Propósito da Bandeira Nacional
Movie • 1988
Narrator
The Last Dive
Movie • 1992
Hyperion Extracts Reader (voice)
Fragments of an Alms-Film
Movie • 1972
Narrator (voice)
Villa Mauresque
Movie • 1993
Tiago
Gestures and Fragments
Movie • 1983
Armando (voice)
Erros Meus
Movie • 2000
Luís de Camões
No one Twice
Movie • 1985
Carlos
Neither Bird Nor Fish
Movie • 1978
Entremês Famoso Sobre a Pesca no Rio Minho
Movie • 1974
Manuel Casimiro - Pintar a Ideia
Movie • 2018
Narrador
Anteroom
Movie • 2018
Zéfiro
Movie • 1993
Narrator
Illusion
Movie • 2014
O Outro Teatro ou As Coisas Pertencem a Quem as Torna Melhores
Movie • 1977
E Não se Pode Exterminá-lo?
Movie • 1979
Valentin 1
The Jester
Movie • 1987
Count of Trava
Snow White
Movie • 2000
O Caçador
War
Movie • 2020
Cabo Mira
O Poeta Doido, o Vitral e a Santa Morta
Movie • 2008
Narrator
Signals of Life
Movie • 1984
A Present Light
Movie • 2021
Pathos
Movie • 2021
Pathos Ethos Logos
Movie • 2021
Biette
Movie • 2013
Self
We Are on Air
Movie • 2024
Voz
The Enclosure of Time
Movie • 2013
Louis Canterel
The Life of Mirrors
Movie • 2025
The Wolf of the West Coast
Movie • 2002
Memoirs of Teatro da Cornucópia
Movie • 2025
A Morte do Príncipe
Movie
Pas Perdus
Movie • 2008
(voice)
Os 25 Anos do Teatro da Cornucópia
Movie • 2000
Himself
História do Cinema Português
TV • 2001