Eduardo Serra. Cinemateca highlights "very strong international dimension"

" Naturally, at this time, when we say goodbye to Eduardo Serra, we are, obviously, saddened and regret the passing of a figure from Portuguese cinema who, in fact, had a very strong international dimension," stressed the deputy director of the Cinemateca, Nuno Sena, in statements to the Lusa news agency.

Nuno Sena was reacting to the death of cinematographer Eduardo Serra, aged 81, announced by the Portuguese Film Academy.

The deputy director of the Cinemateca Portuguesa recalled the artist's Oscar nominations and his participation in "big-budget films", namely two volumes of the Harry Potter saga, in addition to "many other participations in prestigious French productions, especially by Claude Chabrol and Patrice Leconte".

For Nuno Sena, Eduardo Serra "has also remained an important name in Portuguese cinema because he was, occasionally, associated with directors and films that were also very important for the history of national cinematography", recalling, in this regard, the mark he left on the work of João Mário Grilo ('The King's Trial'), or in 'The Dolphin', by Fernando Lopes.

"Films that are essential works of Portuguese cinema and that certainly owe part of their importance to the extraordinary work of Eduardo Serra," he observed, also highlighting the importance of the first film he made in Portugal, 'Sem Sombra de Pecado', which, in the words of the director of photography, "was a film that also opened doors for him abroad."

Recalling the "international dimension" of Eduardo Serra's career, Nuno Sena considered him the professional who "opened doors for the internationalization of Portuguese technicians."

Nuno Sena added that he never felt the director of photography "putting himself in the shoes, neither in the interviews he gave nor in the way he appeared publicly, seeming to put himself ahead of the films he made or ahead of the directors who made those films."

"This modesty is a fair way to describe his temperament and his way of working," he concluded.

Born in Lisbon in 1943, Eduardo Serra was nominated twice for an Oscar, for the films 'The Wings of Love', by Iain Softley, and 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', by Peter Webber, which earned him the BAFTA award from the British Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Eduardo Serra's international career began in France, where he settled in 1963, following the persecution he suffered for participating in protests against the dictatorship, recalls the Portuguese Film Academy, which announced the director of photography's death on social media on Thursday night.

Among the films that marked his career are 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', parts 1 and 2, 'Blood Diamonds', by Edward Zwick, 'Belle du Seigneur', by Glenio Bonder, and 'A Promise', by Patrice Leconte.

In Portuguese cinema, he was responsible for the photography of works such as 'Without a Shadow of Sin' and 'The Neighbor's Wife', by José Fonseca e Costa, 'The King's Trial', by João Mário Grilo, 'Love and Toes', by Luís Filipe Rocha, and 'The Dolphin', by Fernando Lopes.

Eduardo Serra received the degrees of Commander and Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry in 2004 and 2017, respectively, and the Sophia Career Award in 2014 from the Portuguese Academy of Cinema.

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