All About Pedro Costa October 16–26, 2025

Istanbul Modern Cinema presents the first and most comprehensive retrospective in Türkiye of Portuguese director Pedro Costa. Recognized as one of the most uncompromising masters of contemporary cinema, Costa has been described by The Guardian as the “Samuel Beckett of cinema” and is regarded in festival circles as a cult figure for true “auteur” followers. The director documents and narrates the lives of marginalized communities in Lisbon with a patient, immersive, and poetic style.

Beginning with his first feature Blood (O Sangue, 1989), followed by Bones (Ossos, 1997) and the Fontainhas Trilogy— Down to Earth (Casa de Lava, 1994), Colossal Youth (Juventude em Marcha, 2006), and Vitalina Varela (2019)—Costa developed a distinctive cinematic language through long takes shot in unlit narrow rooms, minimal dialogue, and meticulous attention to social and visual detail. These films, though demanding, create a kind of addiction in the viewer; each scene offers both an aesthetic experience and a powerful testimony to the conditions of human existence.

This retrospective, encompassing both short and feature-length films, offers audiences not only the opportunity to discover Pedro Costa’s cinema but also to witness the director’s evolution from traditional dramatic narrative to experimental documentary and installation form.