Antônio Leal – A Continent Called Brazil

The first job that the Portuguese Antônio Leal (1876-1946) had in Brazil was as studio photographer, in the Rua do Ouvidor, in the centre of Rio de Janeiro. During the first years of this century, he became a press photographer (on the newspaper O Malho) and, with the Italian Guiseppe Labanca, set up a cinema (the Palace) and a production company (Foto-Cinematográfica Brasileira). He directed and photographed more than 50 films between 1905 and 1910, without restricting himself to any particular genre. He filmed political, social and sporting events in newsreels, and on top of this became noted as producer of comedies and adaptations of famous texts from the literature (A Moreninha – the Brown Girl – by Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, 1915) and from the theatre (Rosa que se Desfolha – Rose which Wilts, by Gastão Tojeiro, 1917).