Biography
Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti was a film director and producer born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of a distinguished mathematician. Exceptionally gifted from a young age, he began studying law at university by age 15. After a dispute with a professor, he was expelled. His father then sent him to Geneva, Switzerland, with the condition that he avoid studying law or politics. Cavalcanti chose architecture instead. At 18, he moved to Paris to work for an architect, later transitioning to interior design. Following a return visit to Brazil, he accepted a position at the Brazilian consulate in Liverpool, England.
Cavalcanti corresponded with Marcel L'Herbier, a prominent figure in France's avant-garde film scene. This connection led to a job offer from L'Herbier to work as a set designer. In 1920, Cavalcanti left his consulate role and returned to France to collaborate with L'Herbier on numerous films, notably L'Inhumaine.
He began directing his own films soon after, with his first, Rien Que les Heures (Nothing But Time) in 1926, portraying a day in the life of Paris and its residents. In 1927, he teamed up with Walter Ruttmann on a similar project set in Berlin, titled Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlin: Symphony of a Big City).
After the introduction of sound films, Cavalcanti joined Paramount’s French studios but found the commercially driven projects uninspiring and departed in 1933. That year, he returned to England to join John Grierson's GPO Film Unit, where he took on roles ranging from production to sound engineering. Over seven years, he contributed to many projects, often uncredited, and mentored emerging filmmakers. In 1937, when Grierson left for Canada, Cavalcanti was appointed acting head of the unit. However, upon learning that securing the position permanently required British citizenship, he chose to leave.
In 1940, Cavalcanti joined Ealing Studios under producer Michael Balcon, serving as art editor, producer, and director. His notable works from this era, many propaganda films, include Yellow Caesar (1941), Went the Day Well? (1942), Three Songs of Resistance (1943), Champagne Charlie (1944), Dead of Night (co-director, 1945), and Nicholas Nickleby (1947). He left Ealing in 1946 following a financial dispute. After directing three more films in the UK, he returned to Brazil in 1950.
In Brazil, Cavalcanti worked as a producer for Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz, which eventually went bankrupt. After being blacklisted as a communist, he moved back to Europe in 1954, settling in France where he continued working in television. He passed away in Paris in 1982 at the age of 85.
