Eduardo Coutinho Dies: Brazilian Filmmaker Stabbed To Death By Son In Rio De Janeiro

Eduardo Coutinho, considered one of Brazil's greatest documentary directors, died Sunday, Feb. 2 from an apparent homicide in his Rio de Janeiro home. He had recently been invited into the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 80-year-old filmmaker was still active after a career of more than 45 years and he was even planning to direct a new film about the protests that happened in Brazil last year against corruption, football (soccer) World Cup spending and poor public services.

Police believe Coutinho was stabbed to death by his son, Daniel Coutinho, 41, who allegedly also attacked his mother Maria das Dores Oliveira Coutinho, 62, and later tried to commit suicide. Neighbors said the son lived with his parents and suffered from schizophrenia. Rivaldo Barbosa, the director of Rio’s police homicide department said in a press conference that after committing the crime, Daniel knocked on a neighbor’s door saying he had “liberated his father.” The son allegedly went back to his parents home and waited for the ambulance to arrive at the scene.

Meanwhile, Maria das Dores survived because she locked herself in the bathroom after being stabbed several times, according to Barbosa. She and her son were admitted to the Miguel Couto City Hospital in Gavea. Maria das Dores’ condition remains serious.

Eduardo Coutinho began his career close to the Cinema Novo movement in the 1960s. He transitioned to TV in the 1970s. He was best known for his documentaries “Twenty Years Later,” “Edificio Master,” “Santo Forte,” “Babilonia 2000,” “Peões” and “As Canções,” which turned out to be his last film in 2011.