Miguel Gomes has returned from Cannes with the Best Director award under his arm
It’s the highest accolade ever for a Portuguese film at Cannes: while the inclusion of Miguel Gomes “Grand Tour” in the official selection for the Palme d’Or was already a major achievement, the Best Director award was the icing on the cake.
It was the career crowning glory of the 52-year-old director who has been a regular presence at top festivals over the last decade and a half with films such as “Tabu” (2012) and the “Arabian Nights” trilogy (2015).
“You feel a lot at the same time,” Gomes tells Euronews Culture. “It’s rare for a Portuguese film to be nominated, to win an award even more so.”
Miguel Gomes grew up watching Portuguese cinema and identifies with it wholeheartedly: “Portuguese cinema has a history, since the 1960s, that gives it an identity. It’s an identity that is sometimes contested inside, because they say that Portuguese films are difficult.”
“Ever since I was a little boy, I got used to seeing Portuguese cinema and thinking ‘it’s possible to do this in Portugal’. That was very striking and decisive for me. Maybe I’m saying something heretical, but I feel a greater sense of belonging to Portuguese cinema than to the country itself.”
