In the Midst of the End of the World: António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro

António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro created one of the most singular bodies of work in the history of Portuguese cinema, deeply influencing its development. Made between 1974 and 1989, their films deal with rural communities, rituals, and landscapes, blending reality, fiction, ethnography and poetry into a lyrical evocation of the northeastern Portuguese region of Trás-os-Montes, known for its cultural, natural, and political specificities.

Following Courtisane’s multiple programs dedicated to the filmmakers’ work, this volume gathers a selection of texts for the most part available in English for the first time. It also includes interviews with Cordeiro and Reis conducted throughout the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, which map the filmmakers’ conception of art, film, and their own practice. This archival record is complemented with more recent sources, which provide a distanced, historical assessment of their work, as well as some newly commissioned critical texts and a smattering of poems and literary fragments that are featured in their films.

Published by Courtisane
In collaboration with Sabzian
Compiled and edited by Raquel Morais and Stoffel Debuysere

Special thanks to DGLAB / Cultura, Camões, IP – Portugal, the Experimental Humanities Collaborative Network (EHCN), Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual (ICA) and Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema for their support.

Published in 2024.

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