Manoel de Oliveira

Biography

Manoel de Oliveira was born on December 11, 1908, in Porto, Portugal, to a wealthy industrialist family. He initially trained as an actor but transitioned to directing after being inspired by documentary filmmaker Walther Ruttmann's work. His breakthrough came with the documentary "Douro, Faina Fluvial" (1931), followed by the feature film "Aniki-Bóbó" in 1942, which marked a turning point in his career with later critically acclaimed works like "O Acto de Primavera" and "A caça".