António de Macedo

António de Macedo was born in Lisbon in 1931. He studied at the Faculty of Arts of the Classical University (Course in Pedagogical Sciences and the former course in Classical Literatures – Greek, Latin and Portuguese) and at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, where he graduated in Architecture in 1958. He practiced architecture for several years, abandoning it in 1964 to dedicate himself to filmmaking, writing, and teaching. His extensive filmography includes dozens of documentaries, television programs, and socio-political intervention films, as well as eleven feature-length fiction films. At the same time, he specialized in the research and study of comparative religions, esotericology, history of philosophy, audiovisual aesthetics, and literary and filmic forms of speculative fiction, themes he addressed in numerous colloquia, conferences, and various publications, both fiction and essays. He has published more than a dozen books, including fantasy novels and thematic essays. Between 2001 and 2005 he directed the literary collection. Bibliotheca Phantastica from the former Hugin publishing house; in September 2001 he was honored by the 30th Figueira da Foz International Film Festival for his contribution to Portuguese film culture; in May 2007 he received the Career Achievement Award from the Brazilian Society of Authors; in 2012 he was honored by the Portuguese Cinematheque with a retrospective of his complete film work, shown during the months of June and July; and in November of the same year he received the "Sophia 2012" Career Award from the Portuguese Film Academy. In 2013, Fantasporto honored him with the Career Award trophy, with texts on the theme "António de Macedo - The Fantastic in Portuguese Cinema", included in the catalog of the 33rd Porto International Film Festival — Fantasporto 2013; and in 2014 he received the ADAMASTOR Award for "Fantastic Personality 2014", awarded by Trëma Collective and by the Fantastic Forum. His book Lovesenda, or Enigma of the Eight Crystal Doors He received the Choice of the Year Award at the Fantastic Forum in 2017. He died on October 5, 2017. Divergência Editorial named its Annual Award for unpublished manuscripts in his honor.