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Portuguese film director Oliveira hospitalised at age 103

Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, an award-winning 103-year-old film luminary, has been hospitalised with a respiratory problem, his daughter said Saturday.

Oliveira was admitted Friday with a lung problem that was making him short of breath, Adelaida Trepa told the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

“His condition has stabilised. He is recovering and responding well to treatment and we hope he will leave hospital soon,” Trepa said.

She said her father was in a hospital in the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, near the northern Portuguese city of Porto.

The filmmaker was first admitted to the emergency room before being transferred to the cardiology unit at Eduardo Santos Silva hospital, daily newspaper Publico said on its website.

Oliveira, who has continued making films well past his 100th birthday, underwent heart surgery two years ago, Publico reported.

He has made some 50 features and documentaries since his debut in 1931 with “Labour on the Dorou River”.

He was awarded a Palme d’Or for lifetime achievement at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.