(Figueira da Foz, Portugal, 1958). Studies of Economics in Coimbra, Degree in Sociology at ISCTE in Lisbon, MA, PhD and Aggregation in Communication Sciences/Cinema in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon, where he is, actually, a Full Professor, teaching a Film Directing seminar and coordinating the new PhD in Artistic Studies, the PhD in Digital Media and MA in Film/Television.
He has published extensively on cinema and contemporary art in Portugal and abroad (namely in Traffic magazine). He is author of several books: The Order in Cinema (1997), The Lessons of Cinema (2006), The Cinema of Non-Illusion (2006), The Imagined Man (2006), The Book of Images (2007), Film & Philosophy: Mapping an Encounter (2014), a collective compendium on the subject, co-organized with Irene Aparício, which was part of the research project with the same name he directed for the Foundation of Science and Technology, between 2009 and 2012.
As a filmmaker he directed his first feature film, Maria, in 1978, followed by The Foreigner (1982), The King’s Trial (1989), The End of the World (1993), Saramago : Documents (1994), The Eyes of Asia (1996), Out of Sight (1998), 451 Forte (2000), The Break (2002), Proof of Contact (2004), The Flying Carpet (2008), Two Women (2010), Your Home (2012), Your Land (2016).
Still, as a film director, he represented Portugal, among others, in the Official Selections of the Festivals of Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Vancouver, S. Francisco, Houston, Rotterdam, Biarritz, Hong Kong, Stockholm. He received, in 1982, the Prix Georges Sadoul, in 1989, the Special Jury Prize at Rio de Janeiro, the Public Prize and the Jury Prize in Biarritz, the PROCIREP Prize in Cannes, Best Documentary Prize at IndieLisboa (2012) and the Paz dos Reis Prize for the ensemble of his career in Oporto (2010).
In 1990, he was the Portuguese representative for the Oscar to the Best Foreign Language Film. Retrospectives of his work were presented in La Rochelle Film Festival, Figueira da Foz Film Festival and a complete retrospective was held last year in LEFFEST.