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Joaquim de Almeida was born in Lisbon, Portugal. Son of two pharmacists and the sixth of eight kids, Joaquim showed signs at an early age that his future lay not in the family business. At the age of eighteen, after attending the theater course at the Lisbon Conservatory for two years, he left Portugal to pursue his studies after the Conservatory was temporarily closed following the 1974 democratic revolution. He lived a year in Vienna, Austria, working in various jobs from the Künstlerhaus-Theater to gardening. He moved to New York City in 1976. There, he studied with Lee Strasberg, Nicholas Ray and Stella Adler while working as a bartender. After doing some theater and small roles in Soap Operas, he finally landed his first role in a film "The Soldier" in 1981. The following year he had his first important role in "Honorary Consul", working next to Richard Gere, Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins. But it was his third film "Good Morning Babylon", directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, that opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1987, that propelled him to an international career. Being fluent in six languages has helped him to work everywhere in the world. He hasn't stopped since then. He has been in more then 90 films and Television shows acting with actors and directors like Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Kim Basinger, Antonio Banderas, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Soderberg, Benicio del Toro and Kiefer Sutherland among others. It was while playing the main villain in season 3 of the popular series "24", that he discovered the pleasure of living on the beach and he moved to Santa Monica where he lives today. He spends long periods in Portugal where he has a house in Sintra to be with his son Louren and his daughter Ana. Joaquim de Almeida became an American citizen in 2005 and kept his Portuguese nationality. He has been the recipient of many awards: Best Actor - Cairo Film Festival 1991, Golden Globe Best Actor Portugal 1995,1997,2001, SAG Awards- Best ensemble 2005, Portuguese Foreign Press-Personality of the year 1995, Career Award in Festival Cinema de Badajoz 2004, Career Award Festival Iberoamericano de Huelva 2009, Career Award Festival de Cine de Punta del Este 2003, Gold Medal City of Sintra 2008, Gold Medal City of Setubal 2006 and the Order of Infante by the President of Portugal.

Renato Pires, an Actor, Circus Teacher and Producer, originally from Lisbon in Portugal and now living in Eastbourne the South Coast of the UK.

Born in Lisbon on 29th June 1990, Pires became interested in acting when he played the lead in a Chapitô production "When the circus comes to the theatre" in a version of Faust where he played the Devil. He went on to undertake a three year degree in Acting and Circus Performing Arts.

One of the busiest and most popular working actors around, Renato always has multiple projects in progress and is currently working on a number of ideas and is in pre-production for his next movie.

As well as continuing with his acting and filming career with several films and theatre productions under his belt, Renato has also started and built up Acting Moon Events a highly successful event management company in 2014.

His first work as a director was in Who is it? (Lisbon, Portugal Chapitô in 2010) and 3 Chairs (Lisbon, Portugal Theatre Joaquim de Almeida), In 2012, he appeared in the

Portuguese TV programme Morangos com Açúcar and his first appearance in a film was in 2013 in Environmental Enforcement.

In 2014, Pires teamed up with Steve Price to embark on his mission to restore slapstick comedy to popularity by creating the Pires and Price series of films including shorts Pires and Price Gym, Pires and Price Singing Lessons and Impatient Patient Disorder also features Pires and Price alongside Britain's got Talent finalist ventriloquist, Steve Hewlett and celebrity voice over artist Drew Cameron. Also in 2014, he appeared in the musical film Walking on Sunshine.

Since then Renato opened East Sussex School of Circus Arts an international College dedicated to the circus and performing arts.

Paulo Portas was born on 12 September 1962 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal.

Ana Caceres Monteiro was born on 29 September 1972 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal. She is an actress, known for Aquela Cativa Que Me Tem Cativo (1995) and Júlia (2018). She was previously married to Luís Ferreira Van Zeller Pereira Palha.

Vasco Diogo was born in Lisbon in 1970. He has a degree in Sociology by Universidade Nova of Lisbon, a Master degree in Social Sciences by University of Lisbon and a PhD in Communication Sciences by Universidade Nova of Lisbon, with the thesis: "Video: specificity, hybridity and experimentation" (scholarship by FCT, 2008). From 2008 to 2020 he was a professor at University of Beira Interior teaching mainly around cinema directing, new cinemas and experimental cinema. After being co-founder of Projecto Teatral, works, since 1998 in performance, video art and experimental cinema around themes such as self-presentation, truth and manipulation. In experimental cinema he has won several international awards, specially with the film: "anexperimentalviralvlog - the movie remix # !. He has shown his works in several exhibitions and festivals namely (among others):

Wide Open Experimental Film Festival, USA Experimental Brasil, Brasil Monstra Lisbon Animated Film Festival, Portugal Bogotá Experimental Film Festival/CineAutopsia, Colombia Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology, USA Chroma Art Film Festival, USA London Experimental, UK Video Art & Experimental Film Festival, USA InShadow, Portugal VASTLAB Experimental - VLX5, USA Animaze, Canada AniMate - Australian Animation Film Festival, Australia Australian XR Festival, Australia Bridge Video, USA Nur Box Experimental Film Festival, Canada MINA Smartphone Film Festival, Australia Fotogenia, Mexico International Experimental Film Festival, Greece Supernova Digital Animation Festival, USA Super 9 Mobile Film Fest, Portugal The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival, USA Fisura, International Festival of Experimental Film & Video, Mexico STIFF: Seattle True Independent Film Festival, USA ARTBOX.Project, New York 1.0, Armory Art Weeks, NY, USA Altered Esthetics Film Festival, USA CINESONIKA Festival - Celebrating the Soundtrack, USA Moviate Underground Film Festival, USA Cancan Exhibition Competition, LemoArt Gallery, Berlin, Germany MAD GALLERY MILAN, BIENNIAL, Italy OXYGEN - FRAGMENTED CITIES+IDENTITIES, Bogotá, Colombia BRAGA INTERNATIONAL VIDEO DANCE FESTIVAL, Portugal Filmideo 2017, Index Art Center, Newark, USA Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival, USA Girona Film Festival / Experimental Art Film, Spain AVANCA - International Meeting of Cinema, TV, Video and Multimedia, Portugal Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Boulder, Colorado, USA Festival Internacional VideoDanzaBA, Argentina BODIES+CITIES SKIN, international art exhibition of photography, video art, installation, painting and performance art, Venice, Italy It's Liquid Experimental Art Architecture and Design Festival, Rome, Italy OXYGEN - Rome, It's LIQUID Contemporary Video Art and Performing Art Festival, Italy BIDEODROMO International Experimental Film and Video Festival, Bilbao, Spain Experimental Forum, LA, USA CÓDEC / FESTIVAL DE VÍDEO Y CREACIONES SONORAS, Mexico City, Mexico Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, France/Germany Media Art Festival, Friesland, Netherlands

Main awards:

"Teatro", Projecto Teatral, Goethe Institut, Lisbon, 2003; Award Acarte/Maria Madalena Azeredo Perdigão by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2003

anexperimentalviralvlog - the movie remix # ! European Cinematography Awards, 2017 - Best Experimental Film American Filmatic Arts Awards, USA, 2017 - Best Short Video Art / Web / New Media FICOCC # 11, Five Continents International Film Festival, Venezuela, 2018 - Best Video Art LA Shorts Awards, USA, 2018 - Best Experimental Global Film Festival Awards, USA, 2018 - Best Experimental Short Film World Film Fair, USA, 2019 - Best Short Experimental Film Award Official Selection Rome Film Awards, Italy, 2019 - Best Short Experimental Film Award

may I ? remix # Oregon International Film Awards, USA, 2018 - Experimental Film Competition, Platinum Award

BAKALU STUDIO COMPOSITION New York Film Awards, USA, 2017, Best Experimental

Super Cut Free Way World Fest-Houston International Film & Video Festival, USA, 2019, Bronze Remi, Film & Video Art Around Film Festival (ARFF International) // Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2018 - Best Experimental Film New York Film Awards, USA, 2018 - Best Experimental Film Festigious, USA, 2018 - Best Experimental Film

1,2,3, Once Again FICSAM International Mental Health Film Festival, Portugal, 2018: Audience Award - Best Experimental Aphrodite Film Awards, NYC, USA, 2018 - Best Experimental Documentary Short Film 52 Weeks Film Festival, USA, 2018 - winner Best International Documentary

Walkscape Hollywood Gold Awards, USA, 2020 - Winner Experimental Film New York Movie Awards, USA, 2020 - Best Music Video IFS L.A. FILM FESTIVAL, USA, 2020 - Best Experimental Film Florence Film Awards, Italy, 2020 - Best Experimental Film European Cinematography Awards, 2019, Best Experimental Film

Mixed Movie Sarajevo Bridge Fest, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2020 - Cell Phone Films, Social Media Short Forms, Video, Trailers: Overall Annual Winner American Filmatic Arts Awards, USA, 2020 - Best Short Web and New Media Festigious Los Angeles, USA, 2019 - Best Experimental Film

Paint On Paint # 1 The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival, USA, 2021 - Best Animation Short

Paint On Paint # 3 New York Film Awards Official Selection, USA, 2020 - Best Experimental Film

Paint On Paint # 5 Milan Gold Awards, Italy, 2021 - Gold Award: Sound Design Berlin Indie Film Festival 2021, Germany, 2021 - Best Sound Design

Paint On Paint # 6 Oniros Film Awards® - New York, USA, 2021 - Best Sound Design Berlin Indie Film Festival 2021, Germany, 2021 - Best Experimental Film

Magic Magic Mirror London Movie Awards, UK, 2021 - Best Experimental

Paint On Paint # 1-8 Toronto Indie Film Festival, Canada, 2023 - Winner Experimental Film Liber Films International Festival, Greece, 2023 - Best Soundtrack

Anima # 1 Denver Underground Film Festival, USA, 2023 - 3rd Best Experimental Film Experimental, Dance & Music Film Festival, Canada, 2023 - Best Animation Film

Old New Age Purple Sky International Film Festival, Germany, 2023 - Best Mobile Film New York Movie Awards, USA, 2023 - Best Sound Design Ponza Film Awards Italy, Italy, April, 2023 - Best Experimental Film

Olga Prats was born on 4 November 1938 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal. She is known for O Mal-Amado (1974), Letters from War (2016) and Canções da Nossa Vida (1998). She was married to João Luís Delgado Simões. She died on 30 July 2021 in Parede, Portugal.

Ana Malhôa was born on 6 August 1979 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal. She is an actress, known for Bad Investigate (2018), Malapata (2017) and Idade da Pedra (2024). She was previously married to Jorge Moreira.

Pedro Ribeiro was born on 13 November 1983 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), Montana (2014) and The Scopia Effect (2014).

Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira was born on 15 May 1952 in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal. He is an actor, known for Crónica do Tempo (1992), Com a Verdade Me Enganas (1994) and Queridos Inimigos (1993). He has been married to Maria do Carmo Dotti Santos da Costa Amaral since 28 September 1974. They have three children.