Portuguese actor José Martins won the best actor award at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival for his performance in “A Memória do Cheiro das Coisas”.

The film, a Portugal-Brazil co-production, which presents itself as “a poetic and intimate portrait of an elderly man in an institution, exploring the fragility of the human condition, the inevitability of death and the search for redemption”, works on “pressing issues in society, such as population aging and structural racism.” “The Memory of the Smell of Things” was one of the 12 films selected for the official competition at the 27th edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival in the Chinese city.

Actor and director José Martins was born in Lisbon in 1952 and was a founding member of the former Grupo de Campolide, now the Companhia de Teatro de Almada, the Teatro da Malaposta, and the Teatro do Noroeste - Centro Dramático de Viana company in 1991。

(Source: Expresso - Portugal, on June 22)