João Pedro Rodrigues

• Portuguese director, born in Lisbon in 1966.

  After embarking on studies in biology with the goal of becoming an ornithologist, João Pedro Rodrigues entered the Lisbon Theatre and Film School. He then worked as an assistant director and editor for nine years, making one short film and two documentaries. In 2000, his first feature film, O Fantasma [Phantom], the story of a troubling sexual obsession, was a nominee at the Venice Film Festival, and provoked a scandal before becoming a cult classic. Then came Odete [Two Drifters] (2005) and Morrer Como Um Homem [To Die Like a Man] (2009), which was nominated at Cannes for Un Certain Regard. In 2012, he co-directed A Última Vez Que Vi Macau [The Last Time I Saw Macao] with João Rui Guerra da Mata, his artistic director. Next came O Ornitólogo [Ornithologist] (2016) a biopic loosely based on the myth of Saint Anthony of Padua, which earned him Best Director at Locarno. His many works featured in a retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in December 2016.

• O Fantasma (2000) – Two Difteurs (2005) – To Die like a Man (2009) – The Last Time I Saw Macao (2012) – The Ornithilogist (2016) – Will-o'-the-Wisp (2022)