Born on 22 October 1896, José Leitão de Barros was part of the first generation of Portuguese filmmakers (after decades in which Portuguese cinema was made by French and Italian filmmakers). This first generation, strongly marked by the European avant-gardes, made the transition from silent film to sound film and defined the moulds of what would become the cinema of the following decades. José Leitão de Barros was the most important (because also the most prolific) of the filmmakers of that generation. As the 130th anniversary of his birth is marked (in a concerted programme, inside and outside the Cinemateca, which will include exhibitions, colloquia, conversations, a cycle and one-off screenings of the newly digitised copies), the Cinemateca marks the occasion with one of the director's most emblematic films: MARIA PAPOILA. A screening that anticipates an exhibition and a cycle to be presented shortly. Cinemateca Portuguesa. 21 Oct: 7pm | 26 Oct: 3:30pm. MARIA PAPOILA. By Leitão de Barros, with Mirita Casimiro, António Silva, Eduardo Fernandes, Alves da Costa, Maria Cristina. Portugal, 1937, 105 min M/12. Together with A CANÇÃO DE LISBOA, this is without doubt the “Portuguese comedy” with the greatest cinematic qualities: the narrative rhythm is fast, effective, and the director manages to change tone halfway through the narrative. The story: Maria Papoila, a maid in Salazar-era Lisbon at the end of the thirties, falls in love with Eduardo, whose uniform deludes her about the difference in social standing that separates them. Maria Papoila was the only notable film appearance of one of the best and most popular actresses of the Portuguese theatre: Mirita Casimiro, who magnificently portrays a country bumpkin of theatre and cinema, naive, kind-hearted and with a pronunciation that is, evidently, comic. Cinemateca Portuguesa. birthday tribute José Leitão de Barros.