Eva Nil (25 June 1909 – 15 August 1990), born Eva Comello, was an Egyptian-born Brazilian film actress.
Eva Nil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 25, 1909 |
| Died | August 15, 1990 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | Brazilian-Egyptian |
| Occupation | Actress |
Early life edit
Eva Comello was born in Cairo in 1909, the daughter of Ida Tonetti and Pietro Comello, both born in Italy. Her father was a photographer who became a filmmaker in Brazil[1] after they immigrated in Eva's childhood.[2]
Career edit
"Eva Nil" (also seen as Eva Nill), her chosen screen name, refers to her Egyptian birth, on the Nile River. Silent films featuring Eva Nil included Valadião, o Cratera (1925, "Valadião, the Crater", a short by Comello and his filmmaking partner Humberto Mauro), Na Primera da Vida (1925, "The Spring of Life", also by Mauro),[3] Senhorita Agora Mesmo (1928, "Miss Right Now", with Comello as cinematographer, producer, director, and actor), and Barro Humano (1929, by Adhemar Gonzaga). She was counted among the melindrosas, modern young actresses of 1920s cinema in Brazil.[4] None of her film appearances have survived, though there are some existing stills.[5]
In 1978, archival footage of Nil was featured in a documentary about women in film, Mulheres de Cinema.[6]
Personal life edit
Eva Nil died in 1990, aged 81 years, in Cataguases, Minas Gerais, where she had lived for many years after retiring from film work.[7]
References edit
- ^ John King, Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America (Verso 2000): 24. ISBN 9781859842331
- ^ Leslie Bethell, A Cultural History of Latin America: Literature, Music, and the Visual Arts in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Cambridge University Press 1998): 461. ISBN 9780521626262
- ^ Lisa Shaw and Stephanie Dennison, Brazilian National Cinema (Routledge 2014). ISBN 9781134702176
- ^ Maite Conde, Consuming Visions: Cinema, Writing, and Modernity in Rio de Janeiro (University of Virginia Press 2012). ISBN 9780813932149
- ^ Luciana Corrêa de Araújo, "'A Role in Which the Work Is Not Completely Passive': Eva Nil, Miss Right Now (1927), and Women's Work in Brazilian Silent Cinema" Feminist Media Histories 3(4)(Fall 2017): 102-125. DOI: 10.1525/fmh.2017.3.4.102
- ^ Mulheres de Cinema (1978).
- ^ Maria M. Delgado, Stephen M. Hart, Randal Johnson, eds., A Companion to Latin American Cinema (John Wiley & Sons 2017). ISBN 9781118557396
External links edit
- Eva Nil's listing on IMDb
- An image of Eva Nil in the 1920s, from a 2009 event, held in Brazil for her centennial year.
