It was only a matter of time before the world noticed that there was a master filmmaker in Pedro Costa. The Portuguese director has spent the last 20 years building a distinguished career or films which are timeless, endlessly depressing but also shine a light on the immigrant story, not only in Portugal but the world over. Sadly, a whole lot of folks never quite managed to grasp his art.

Costa’s films are deliberately paced, largely unscripted and if I had to compare them to anything, it would be like walking through a beautiful nightmare. These are endlessly sad stories but the settings and the way they’re told is haunting and many of the images are likely to stay with you for months if not years.

Booed at Cannes and overlooked at many a festival (his appearance at VIFF a few years ago was a disappointment as barely ¼ of the crowd stayed through the entire film), it looks like Costa has finally found some critical attention (I’m willing to bet his 2006 appearance in Cahiers du cinéma’s top 10 may have had something to do with it).

The great people at Criterion have announced the release of Letters from Fontinhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa. Fontinhas refers to a now demolished “slum” on the outskirts of Lisbon. The three films included in the set, Ossos, In Vanda’s Room and Colossal Youth, are a lose trilogy of unrelated characters who happen to live in Fontinhas.

This is very exciting. Costas’ work has been notoriously difficult to acquire on DVD (aside from difficult to find and expensive imports). I can’t wait to get my little hands on this. Kudos to Criterion for shinning a light on another undiscovered master. Now, just waiting for that Oliveira box set.

A few trailers tucked under the seats.