
Directing
Alberto Cavalcanti
Born — Died
1897-02-06 — 1982-08-23
Place of birth
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Known for
Directing
Credits
49 titles
Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti was a Brazilian-born film director and producer. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a prominent mathematician. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a professor he was expelled. His father sent him to Geneva, Switzerland on condition that he did not study law or politics. Cavalcanti chose to study architecture instead. At 18 he moved to Paris to work for an architect, later switching to working on interior design. After a visit back to Brazil he took up a position at the Brazilian consulate in Liverpool, England. Cavalcanti corresponded with Marcel L'Herbier, a leading lig…
Known for
7.2An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
Dead of Night
1945
Produced for television by Claude-Jean Philippe, the « Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma », recounts the history of French cinema from its birth to the beginning of the 1960s. With commentary read by Jean Rochefort.
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
1978
7.4Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.
Caiçara
1950
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Volta Redonda
1952
NRAdaptation for TV of the play by Friedrich Durrenmatt. A very rich old lady arrives in her nearly bankrupt native village. She is ready to come to the rescue but only if her old lover who had once abandoned her pregnant is killed.
La visite de la vieille dame
2026
7.1The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.
Went the Day Well?
1942
Film credits
2020s · 1 titles
1970s · 4 titles
7.3A portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision. Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term 'documentary film'.
Grierson
1973
9.0Alberto Cavalcanti reviews his own prolific career as a filmmaker.
Um Homem e o Cinema
1976
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Alberto Cavalcanti
1970
8.0This film is based on actual letters German soldiers sent home from the siege of Leningrad during World War II. The litany of trouble these poor grunts endured is lamentable. One complains of returning home an invalid. An SS man has bad dreams about the Russian tank-driver he killed. Another complains when he sits down to hear a piano recital and one of the musicians has frozen fingers. Another soldier swears he will never forgive his father for injuries he suffered in the invasion of Leningrad. Stock footage of wars from World War II to Vietnam are inserted and give an ironic tinge to the feature.
Lettres de Stalingrad
1972
Series credits
Behind the camera
7.2An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
Dead of Night
1945
7.4Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.
Caiçara
1950
7.4Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.
Caiçara
1950
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Volta Redonda
1952
NRAdaptation for TV of the play by Friedrich Durrenmatt. A very rich old lady arrives in her nearly bankrupt native village. She is ready to come to the rescue but only if her old lover who had once abandoned her pregnant is killed.
La visite de la vieille dame
2026
7.1The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.
Went the Day Well?
1942
5.3In this drama, a frustrated upper-class writer decides that he will find real inspiration by examining his subjects first-hand. This leads him to begin wandering about the seamiest side of town where he witnesses a murder. When an innocent man is arrested, the writer refuses to assist him as the knowledge that he has been "slumming" could destroy his career. The young man is sentenced to 15 years in prison.
For Them That Trespass
1949
6.6After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
They Made Me a Fugitive
1947
No synopsis available yet.
Plaisirs défendus
1933
6.5The story of a romance between the daughter of the Prince Regent and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg.
The First Gentleman
1948
6.7A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
1947
10.0Documentary on the fresco paintings of Candido Portinari, who contributed to the development of a more realistic and modernist style in the art of Brazil.
Painel
1951
6.0An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.
The Wind Rose
1957
6.0An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.
The Wind Rose
1957
8.0Old Zé Cristino, riding his donkey, goes to Congonhas do Campo to fulfill a promise to São Bom Jesus do Matozinho. In front of the church, he admires the Sanctuary with its 12 prophets, a monumental work by Antonio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho. Each prophet is shown in detail with the biblical text accompanying the images.
Santuário
1951
7.0The administrator of an abandoned coffee farm and inveterate gambler saves money to buy the property, even knowing of the loving connections between his wife and the boss.
Terra é Sempre Terra
1951
7.0This first film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play about class distinctions was made in 1955 in the Vienna Rosenhügel studios, but it was only premiered five years later. Curt Bois plays the rich capitalist Puntila who only becomes somewhat agreeable when he is drunk (which he is most of the time in this film). In his inebriated state, Puntila not only gets amorously involved with three different ladies but also suggests that his daughter Eva marries his chauffeur Matti. The chauffeur, however, doesn’t really agree…
Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti
1960
7.0This first film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play about class distinctions was made in 1955 in the Vienna Rosenhügel studios, but it was only premiered five years later. Curt Bois plays the rich capitalist Puntila who only becomes somewhat agreeable when he is drunk (which he is most of the time in this film). In his inebriated state, Puntila not only gets amorously involved with three different ladies but also suggests that his daughter Eva marries his chauffeur Matti. The chauffeur, however, doesn’t really agree…
Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti
1960
6.7The story of three children who find themselves with a friendly monster that grows at an alarming rate.
The Monster of Highgate Ponds
1961
6.2In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.
Song of the Sea
1953
6.2In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.
Song of the Sea
1953
6.2In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.
Song of the Sea
1953
6.5A nobleman decides to join a traveling group of actors to be with a girl he admires, but ultimately must rescue her from bandits
Captain Fracasse
1929
6.5There is a lot of excitement in the high society of Venice: An Arab prince, who always travels incognito, is said to be in the city. By chance, the elegant Isabella gets to know the handsome heir to the throne - and it does not take long for her to fall madly in love with him. Isabella has no idea that her dream man is really the impostor Gérard, who looks remarkably like the prince and was hounded by the sleazy crook Alfredo on Isabella to steal their precious jewelry.
Venetian Honeymoon
1959
6.0A nurse falls in love with her patient and secretly marries him. When treating another patient, he falls in love with her and, pretending to be in agony, asks for one last wish: to marry him, and she accepts.
A Real Woman
1955
The picture shows the industrialization of England, and the measures taken to clean up afterwards: a lyrical counterpart of Men In Danger, and a contradiction.
Health of a Nation
1939
The picture shows the industrialization of England, and the measures taken to clean up afterwards: a lyrical counterpart of Men In Danger, and a contradiction.
Health of a Nation
1939
10.0No synopsis available yet.
Halfway Up the Sky
1931
7.0A woman marries a gambler, thinking she could straighten him up, but he loses all their assets, even their own house, and tries to commit suicide. But one of the winners falls for his stepdaughter, and this could change the situation.
Angela
1951
8.0No synopsis available yet.
A Canção do Berço
1930
5.8The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.
Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs
1934
5.8The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.
Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs
1934
6.0A one-eyed businessman wants to become rich and retrieve his lost eye at any cost. He tries many schemes, and eventually regains his eye with a vengeance: the power of invisibility. He becomes multi millionaire in the meat market and after entering politics he is elected president of Brazil.
Simon the One-Eyed
1952
6.0A one-eyed businessman wants to become rich and retrieve his lost eye at any cost. He tries many schemes, and eventually regains his eye with a vengeance: the power of invisibility. He becomes multi millionaire in the meat market and after entering politics he is elected president of Brazil.
Simon the One-Eyed
1952
NRIt starts in the Indian tabas, goes through colonial architecture and arrives in the Brazilian capital. The film follows a script left by Alberto Cavalcanti, after a trip to Brasilia in 1978.
Brasília, segundo roteiro de Alberto Cavalcanti
1982
9.0A young man who loves his wife wants rid of his troublesome mistress. He dresses up as a wealthy Brazilian and seduces her in a jiffy. He hopes to reach a settlement, that she must sign. In this settlement she will promise to break with her lover. He can then show that he is a faithful husband.
The Brazilian Thing
1932
9.0A young man who loves his wife wants rid of his troublesome mistress. He dresses up as a wealthy Brazilian and seduces her in a jiffy. He hopes to reach a settlement, that she must sign. In this settlement she will promise to break with her lover. He can then show that he is a faithful husband.
The Brazilian Thing
1932
Short GPO documentary, about mail that is sent out of the country to Switzerland.
Who Writes to Switzerland?
1937
7.0This is 1929: the little red riding hood is still with us and her life is more complicated than ever. She still has to go through the forest and she once again comes up against a wolf. This time around the big bad wolf has become a lecherous tramp who keeps stalking the girl trying to wolf her down ... in his own way of course.
Little Red Riding Hood
1930
Part of BFI collection "If War Should Come."
French Communique
1940



