Eduardo Luis Santos Correia Guedes (21 April 1941 – 29 August 2000) was a Portuguese film-maker involved with the independent British film collective

Cinema Action Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

. Guedes was born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, the son of a judge, and initially studied

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

, but after refusing to take part in the Portuguese colonial wars, he left in 1961 to study film-making at the London International Film School. After graduating in 1964, he worked as a tutor at the school. In 1965 he went to Brazil and made three documentaries (one, ''Rio Araguaia'', was later networked by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and French television). Returning to London, he freelanced as a film editor from 1968 to 1971, working with theatre director

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

and

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

Jeremy Isaacs Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager. Following a career at Granada Television, the BBC and Thames Television, Isaacs was the founding chief executive of Channe ...

, and was credited as editor of Maurice Hatton's 1970 film ''Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition''.AllMovie: Eduardo Guedes
(accessed: 7 June 2013) In 1971, Guedes joined Cinema Action. This was a key component in the organisation of the Independent Film-makers Association which campaigned, among other things, for airtime for independents on the UK

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

network. In 1981, Guedes shot and edited a documentary, ''So That You Can Live'', which opened Channel 4's independent film slot. Cinema Action's first feature, ''Rocinante'' (1986) starred

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

and

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

, was written and directed by Eduardo and his wife

Ann Guedes Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

, and produced by Gustav Lamche. A second feature, ''Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale'' (1990) starred Dury and

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

. While fighting the cancer that would eventually cause his death, Guedes made two more features in Portugal: '' Pax'' (1994), starring

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her film roles, including '' Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), ''The Fisher King'' (1991), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hunge ...

and

Isabel Ruth Isabel Ruth (born 6 April 1940) is a Portuguese actress. She has appeared in more than 50 films since 1963. She starred in '' River of Gold'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Selected filmog ...

, and ''Knives And Angels'' (2000).

References

Portuguese film directors Mass media people from Lisbon Alumni of the London Film School 1941 births 2000 deaths {{Portugal-film-director-stub