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In conjunction with Margarida Cordeiro, Portuguese filmmaker António Reis made feature films attempting to fathom the "real culture" of their native land. The result was four beautifully photographed, almost dialog-free works in which the land itself took precedence over traditional notions of narrative. Most of these naturalistic, experimental stories were designed to contrast the pastoral beauty found in the mundane activities of rural women to the frenetic, male-dominated lives of those living in filthy, over- mechanized cities. Before entering the film industry, Reis had established himself as a noted, self-taught artist and poet. His interest in film began in the late 1950s when Reis collaborated with the Group of Experimental Cinema of the Cineclube do Porto to makeAuto da Floripes/The Floripes Play (1959). He then made two short documentaries in the early '60s. Through the decade, Reis occasionally lectured at the Escola de Cinema at the Conservatório Nacional. Reis teamed up with psychiatrist Margarida Codeiro in the early '70s. They made their first film together, Jaime in 1973.