Vitalina Varela

Vitalina Varela (born 1966) is a Cape Verdean actress.

Biography Varela was born in Cape Verde and married Joaquin Varela in the 1980s. They had two children, and he was a migrant laborer who periodically visited her. Joaquin died in 2013. Varela made her film debut with a small role in Pedro Costa's 2014 film Horse Money. After befriending Varela during the filming, and as he got to know her, Costa realized that she deserved her own movie. Varela and the priest, played by Ventura, debate the nature of humanity and her husband, and she frequently delivers somber monologues directed at her husband's ghost.

The story is based on Varela's actual experiences, as she did actually come to Lisbon three days after her estranged husband's death. Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal writes that "Varela’s face is as expressive as a silent-film star." Varela received the Best Actress award at the Locarno Film Festival, while the film received the Golden Leopard prize for the best movie.

Filmography 2014: Horse Money 2019: Vitalina Varela