Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1952, Rita Azevedo da Costa studied Fine Arts before starting to work in film and theatre. Besides working as a filmmaker, she's also a film programmer and curator at Cinemateca Portuguesa.
Over the years, she has taken part in several
projects spanning across theatre, opera, cinema and the visual arts, of which her graphic
work for cinema is particularly striking. She has
collaborated with important figures in the Portuguese cinema scene, such
as João Bénard da Costa, Luís Noronha da Costa, Manoel de Oliveira,
Valeria Sarmiento, and others.
Having directed her first feature, The Sound of the Earth Shaking, in 1990, she has subsequently directed various short and feature films that earned her international recognition. The Portuguese Woman (2018) is her latest film.