Born in 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 NOVA 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 the MA in Film/Television. At IFILNOVA he coordinates the CineLab, since its foundation. He has published extensively on cinema and contemporary art in Portugal and abroad. He authored several books: "The Order in Cinema" (1997), "Lessons in 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 which was part of the research project with the same name he directed for the Foundation of Science and Technology, between 2009 and 2013. He coordinated several committees in the fields of Cinema and Visual Arts on behalf of the Portuguese Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education, as well as for the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, the Gulbenkian Foundation, and the Media II Program of the EC. As evaluator, he served the Lithuanian Center for Quality Assessment in Higher Education, and the European Research Council. Since 2014, he is the coordinator of the PhD in Artistic Studies - Art and Mediations, the first FCT PhD in the area of Arts, and the association of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. 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), “The Eyes of Asia” (1996), “Far from One’s Eyes” (1998), “451 Forte” (2000), “The Break” (2002), “Two Women” (2010), “Field of Blood” (2021/2022). Meanwhile, he authored several documentaries, mostly concerned on the relationship between cinema and other arts: literature: “Saramago: Documents” (1994) -, tapestry and carpet making: “The Flying Carpet” (2008) -, architecture (and Thoreau’s philosophy): “Your Home (2012), landscape architecture and ecology: “Your Land” (2016) -, sculpture: “Journey to the end of a place where I have never been” (2016) -, painting and visual arts: “Proof of Contact” (2004), “VieirArpad” (2019/2020). Still, as a film director, he represented Portugal, among others, in the Official Selections of major Film Festivals: Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno , Rio de Janeiro , Toronto , Vancouver , S. Francisco , Houston, Rotterdam, Biarritz, Chicago, Hong Kong, Stockholm. He was the 1982 recipient of the Georges Sadoul Prize, having received also the following awards: the Special Jury Prize at Rio de Janeiro, the Public Prize and the Jury Prize in Biarritz, the PROCIREP Prize in Cannes, the Best Documentary Prize at IndieLisboa and the Paz dos Reis Prize for the ensemble of his career in Oporto (2010). As film programmer and curator, he directed the extensive film program "P'ra Rir!", for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2014/2015, the program “CineGeographies” at the Portuguese Cinematheque, in 2013, and the summer film programs "Splendor in the Grass", in the gardens of the Palace of Monserrate, Sintra, in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Currently he is one of the two PI responsible for the implementation of the new NOVA Institute of Arts and Technologies, in the frame of the European Consortium T-Factor and the financing of the European Commission through Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme (Grant Agreement 868887) and, through the Rector of NOVA University, the competitive support of the Lisbon Regional Operational Program (H2020/FEDER - Investments in Technological Infrastructures).