Born in Lisbon (Portugal) in 1972, he trained at the Escola Superior de Teatro y Cine in his hometown and worked as a film critic before making the leap behind the camera.He directed several short films presented and awarded in international film festivals, before completing in 2004 his feature debut, ‘The Face You Deserve’, awarded at IndieLisboa. His next features ‘Our Beloved Month of August’ (Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight 2008), ‘Tabu’ (Berlinale Official Competition 2012: Alfred Bauer and FIPRESCI awards), ‘Arabian Nights’ (a film in three feature parts, Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, 2015) and ‘The Tsugua Diaries’, co-directed with Maureen Fazendeiro (Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, 2021), confirmed his international success and projection. In 2018 he was the president of the International Jury at Seminci. ‘Grand Tour’, his 6th feature, with world première in Cannes Film Festival’s 2024 Competition, won the Best Director Award there.