While growing up, competed as a gymnast and athlete

Joined father's business aged 17 (date approximate)

Competed as a race car driver in Portugal and Brazil up until 1940

With others attempted--but failed--to make a film about Portugal's participation in WWI

Acting debut in the silent "Fatima Milagrosa", directed by Rino Lupo

Worked with painter Ventura Porfirio on an animated film that was eventually abandoned

Filmmaking debut as director, editor and scenarist with the documentary "Douro, faina fluvial/Hard Labor on the River Douro"; re-released 1934 with a score by Luis de Freitas Branco

Acted in "A cancao de Lisboa/Song of Lisbon"; Portugese's first full sound film

During the 1930s, made shorts and documentaries; also worked on various projects that for many reasons were never completed

Feature film writing and directing debut, the children's film "Aniki-Bobo"; at the time of its release was called "immoral" by many critics and proved a box office failure; inthe 1980s thanks to repeated showings on Portuguese television, it had become one of the country's most popular films

Supported family by farming; wrote various scripts but no film projects came to fruition

Traveled to Germany to study color film techniques

First film in 14 years, "O pintor e a cidade/The Painter and the City", a 45-minute documentary which contrasted photographic images of the city of Oporto with native painter Antonio Cruz's canvasses; served as writer, director, editor, producer and cameraman

Wrote, directed and produced "O pao/Bread", a documentary commissioned by Portugal's National Federation of Industrial Millers; also edited and served as cameraman

Filmed a Passion Play in northeastern Portugal for the documentary "Acto da primavera/The Passion of Jesus"

Helmed the fictional short "A Caca/The Hunt"

Retrospective of film work at Locarno

Last film on which he served as cameraman, the short "As pinturas do meu irmao Julio/My Brother Julio's Paintings" (filmed in 1959), a collaboration with poet Jose Regio and his painter brother Julio

At age 63, made return to fiction films with "O passado e o presente/Past and Present"

Directed "Benilde ou a Virgem Mae/Benilde: Virgin and Mother", based on a play by Jose Regio

Made "Amor de Perdicao/Ill-Fated Love", a loose adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet"; first feature to receive widespread festival screenings

"Francesca", based on the novel "Fanny Owen", selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival

Appeared in Joao Botelho's "I, the Other/Conversa acabada"

Made the autobiographical "Memorias e confissoes/Memories and Confession", based on his family history; decided the film should not be released until after his death

Wrote and directed the nearly seven-hour "Sapato de cetim/The Silk Slipper", an adaptation of Paul Claudel's 1929 verse drama "Le Soulier de satin"; spent two years making the film

Adapted another Regio play as "Mon cas/My Case"; selected as opening night presentation at the Venice Film Festival

Debut as playwright, "De Produndis", based on a story by Agustina Bessa Luis and poems by Jose Regio

Edited, wrote and directed "Os Canibas/The Cannibals", an opera about a love triangle

Wrote, directed and edited "The Divine Comedy", a drama set in an insane asylum

Made biographical drama about Camilo Castelo Branco, "O dia do desespero/The Day of Despair"

Using Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" as inspiration, wrote, edited and directed "Vale Abraao/The Valley of Abraham"

Teamed Catherine Denueve and John Malkovich in the drama "The Convent"

Wrote and directed "Party", starring Michel Piccoli as an aging Don Juan

Made semi-autobiographical feature "Viagem ao principio do mundo/Voyage to the Beginning of the World", in which Marcello Mastroianni played a filmmaker named Manoel reminiscing about his childhood

At age 90, modernized "La Princess de Cleves" as "A Carta/La lettre/The Letter", starring Chiara Mastroianni as a woman struggling to retain her virtue in contemporary society

Helmed the dark comedy "Um Filme Falado/A Talking Picture"

Helmed "Belle Toujours," an eccentric sequel to "Belle de Jour" with Bulle Ogier in the Catherine Deneuve role