João Paulo Simões(I)

João Paulo Simões was born in 1976 and is the grandson of legendary Angolan poet Maurício de Almeida Gomes. In parallel with commissioned documentary work, music videos and early collaborations with the BBC and various other broadcast organisations over the years, he has been developing and perfecting his own cinematic and artistic vision, gathering therefore experience in multiple areas, whilst earning the reputation of a maverick filmmaker. His films are character-driven, psychological studies with strong atmospherics. Through the years, they have had their worldwide rights bought by Sky TV, have been previewed at the Cannes Film Festival and have closed galas in other International Film Festivals. He has also delivered high-profile talks on his work and academic lectures on a range of film topics, including Digital Cinema at the University of Leicester and World Music in Film at Huddersfield University. Additionally, he was the Editor of the Filmreel section of Now Then Magazine between 2009 and 2015. João Paulo runs Frontier Media in the UK, Cinema Livre in Portugal, has built various international partnerships and has launched the book publishing label New Relics. Via his audio-centred venture AudioVault, he has also extended his knowledge and experience in sound design to the production of commissioned podcasts - namely the highly popular Maharashtra Mater and the dynamic journalistic Living in Sheffield. A selection of his challenging, boundary-breaking films is available on various streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, MYSpotlight VOD and The Vault+, via a worldwide distribution deal.