A decisive contribution to Portuguese Cinema
Created in 2007 in Lisbon, Leopardo Filmes continues the 40-year work of producer, exhibitor and distributor Paulo Branco. Our productions are a frequent presence in major Film Festivals and our activity in distribution ensures the presence of quality independent films throughout Portugal, acting in the circuit of commercial theaters, cineclubs and home video.
In addition, Leopardo Filmes annually organizes the LEFFEST - Lisboa Film Festival, a festival that focuses on the interconnection of diverse cultural proposals: from cinema to literature, through music and the fine arts; and affirms itself as a place conducive to reflection and discussion of the topics that mark the present — by the intersection of filmmakers, thinkers, artists and the public. More information at www.leffest.com.
Paulo Branco started his career as a producer in 1979 between Paris and Lisbon. Nowadays, he embodies one of the most important figures in independent production worldwide. Key player of auteur cinema, he is recognized for having given their first chances to numerous aspiring filmmakers who turned into immense cinematographers.
So far, he has produced about 300 films and has worked with the most renowned film directors in the world such as David Cronenberg, Jerzy Skolimowski, Wim Wenders, Chantal Akerman, Alain Tanner, Werner Schroeter, André Téchiné, Andrzej Zulawski, Christophe Honoré, Olivier Assayas, Sharunas Bartas, Paul Auster, Philippe Garrel, Mathieu Amalric…
His career has particularly been branded with an intense collaboration, during more than 20 years, with Raul Ruiz (Time regained, Three lives and only one death, Mysteries of Lisbon…) and Manoel de Oliveira (Francisca, Abraham’s valley, The satin slipper….).
Paulo Branco was a member of the jury of the Official Selection at Berlin (1999) and Venice Film Festival (2006), and at the Rotterdam Film Festival (2006). In 2011, he was President of the jury at the Lecce Film Festival and at the Locarno Film Festival.
Paulo Branco is also well-known as the independent producer who has had the greatest number of films selected at Cannes Film Festival. He presented 53 films in Cannes - 27 of which in Official Selection - and brought 48 films to the Venice Film Festival - “The domain” is the 20th film he has presented in Competition, where he premiered 26 films of Portuguese filmmakers.
Moreover, Paulo Branco is the director of the LEFFEST (Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival), an event he founded in 2007. Every year the festival welcomes the greatest artists and intellectuals in the world, such as David Lynch, Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Don Delillo, J.M. Coetzee, Cindy Sherman, Lou Reed, Stephen Frears, John Malkovich, Matthew Barney, Paul Giamatti, Aleksandr Sokurov, Abdellatif Kechiche… just to mention a few.
Among several awards won during his career, these stand out: Greatest European Producer Prize given by the European Parliament (1999); Raimondo Rezzonico Award to the Best Independent Producer at the Festival of Locarno (2002); the Golden Horse from the Taipei Film Festival (2005); the medal of Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et Des Lettres of Republic of France (2004); the Gabriela Mistral Order from the Government of Chile. This year, the World Cultural Council awarded him the 2019 Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts.
Filmography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0104418/