MICHAEL DUDOK DE WIT

Michael Dudok de Wit is a filmmaker who in his animated films works on full versus empty, rhythm versus pause in films such as The Monk and the Fish (1994), nominated for an Oscar, and recipient of a César; Father and Daughter (2000) which won the Grand Prix in Annecy, an Oscar and a BAFTA award; and The Aroma of Tea (2006).  
He also directed the feature film The Red Turtle (2016) which was nominated for an Oscar (2017) and won the Special Prize at Un Certain Regard, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, as well as numerous other international awards. 
He presents explorations that, at first glance, seem to deal with concrete realities, but which in their philosophical and aesthetic reality are close to abstraction. He was the first western director to have his feature film produced by Studios Ghibli.

ABI FEIJÓ

In 1985, he directed his first film: Oh que Calma, followed by Os Salteadores, Fado Lusitano, Clandestino and Nossa Senhora da Presentation, where he explored various animation techniques and produced, in the 30 subsequent years, some of the most iconic Portuguese animated films, awarded worldwide, including films by Regina Pessoa, as well as co-producing international directors: Paul Bush, Andreas Hykade and Marcy Page.
Producer, since 1997 (Filmógrafo and Ciclope Filmes) of Regina Pessoa, among other directors, and all his short films, with an applauded and awarded career in 6 continents.
Animation teacher in very different contexts, from one-off workshops with children, young people and adults, in different countries (and continents) to higher education and long-term workshops.
In 2014, Abi also became Director of the Casa-Museu de Vilar, which he founded, in that same year, together with Regina Pessoa, Normand Roger and Marcy Page, and where he made available to the public a rare collection of Pre-Cinema objects, original material by Animation Films from all over the world, as well as his and Regina's films, books and traveling exhibitions.

JORGE RIBEIRO

Born in Porto, Portugal in 1975, he has worked as an animator and director since 1999 on dozens of productions for Tv Series, Short Films, commissioned films and advertising. Directed several music videos for portuguese bands, such as “Quinta do Bill”, “Anaquim”, “Gisela João”, directed two TV series for RTP, Portugal´s public network: “Os Espadinhas” and “Visiokids” and a 26 minute animated special “Isto não é um chapéu”.

PAULO PATRÍCIO

Born in Huambo, Angola, and currently living in Porto, Portugal, Paulo Patrício has a soft spot for storytelling, he works across different media, swapping with ease from design, to writing, drawing, live performances and directing animation.

REGINA PESSOA

Regina Pessoa was born in Coimbra and graduated in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Porto. In 1992, she started working in animation as an animator on the films “Os Salteadores”, “Fado Lusitano” and “Clandestino”, all by Abi Feijó. In 1996, she began to direct her own animated films: "A Noite" (1999), "História Trágica with Happy Ending" (2005), "Kali o Pequeno Vampiro" (2012) and "Tio Tomás a Contabilidade dos Dias" (Tio Tomás a Contabilidade dos Dias) (2012). 2019), with obtaining great recognition and wins numerous awards at the main festivals and world events (Annecy, Annie Awards, Hiroshima, … ), becoming an unavoidable reference of Portuguese Animation and recently recognized in the Top 3 of the best world directors of the last 25 years (Animac'2021). Three of her films are part of the National Film Plan's list of films, and are studied by children and young people in portuguese schools. In 2016 she becomes “Senior Lecturer” at the Animation School German FILMAKADEMIE and in 2018 is invited to be a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood.

SOFIA NETO

Comics author, illustrator and educator. Currently a researcher in Illustration at ARU-Cambridge School of Art, she has a Masters in Comics from EESI in Angoulême and a degree in Fine Arts – Multimedia from FBAUP. She guides drawing classes at Clube de Desenho in Porto. She conducted training in Comics, Graphic Narrative and Character Development at FBAUP, Drawing and Comics courses at Clube de Desenho, as well as several courses within the Graduate Course in Illustration and Comics at ESAG. She was a member of the Educational Service of the Centro de Arte Oliva in S. João da Madeira. She was part of the Organizing Committee of the International Illustration Meeting of S. João da Madeira between 2015 and 2018, and in 2019 she was a member of the Jury of the Illustration Competition. She was the recipient of the Geraldes Lino award in 2017 and of a Literary Creation Scholarship from DGLAB in 2020.