The face of Portuguese Cinema Novo, inseparable from the inaugural gesture that is The Green Years (1963) by Paulo Rocha, Isabel Ruth remains an actress of singular strength, cherished by contemporary filmmakers, from Sérgio Tréfaut to the duo João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata.
Her career includes fascinating “foreign encounters”, from Pasolini to Bertolucci, from Jean-Claude Biette to Tonino De Bernardi, yet it is within Portuguese cinema that her presence most profoundly reverberates. She has worked with Manoel de Oliveira, Jorge Silva Melo, José Álvaro Morais and Pedro Costa, among many others. This retrospective is organized in collaboration with Isabel Ruth herself, who will be present at the screenings, engaging in conversations with guests and the audience.