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Portuguese filmmaker Fernando Lopes began his career as a newsreel editor's trainee for the recently established Radio Televisão Portuguesa (RTP) in 1957. Prior to that, he had studied bookkeeping in Lisbon. In 1959, Lopes attended the London School of Film Technique on a grant from the Fundo de Cinema Nacional. He returned to RTP in 1961 and for the next two years was actively involved in their news services. After years of relative obscurity, Lopes made his first theatrically released feature, the docudrama Belarmino (1964), and for his efforts earned a Fulbright scholarship that allowed him to spend three months Hollywood in 1965. It was not until 1968 that Lopes would begin shooting his next feature, Uma Abelha na Chuva/A Bee in the Rain. The film was finally edited and released in 1971. In addition to making feature films, Lopes remained active with RTP as a manager of Channel Two and with its Department of International Co-Productions; in 1970, Lopes served for the Centro Portuguêse de Cinema.