Born in Lisbon in 1959, he abandoned his studies in History to attend classes by the poet and director António Reis at the School of Cinema. His first feature film, The Blood, had its world premiere at Mostra di Venezia in 1989. Casa de Lava, his second film, shot in Cape Verde, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Some of his other films include Bones, In Vanda’s Room and Colossal Youth, which make up the Fontaínhas trilogy. He also directed Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?, following the work of Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub and Change Nothing with the actress Jeanne Balibar. He was part of the collective feature Centro Histórico, alongside Manoel de Oliveira, Aki Kaurismäki and Víctor Erice. His film Horse Money had a remarkable international career, having received the award for Best Director at the 2014 International Film Festival in Locarno. His most recent film Vitalina Varela won the Golden Leopard for Best Film at the LOCARNO Film Festival and the Silver Leopard for Best Actress for Vitalina Varela in 2019. It also won the Ecumenical Jury Honorable Mention and the Boccalino D'Oro Independent Jury Award for Best Actress; Jury Prize for Best Film at the LA ROCHE-SUR-YON Festival; the Silver Hugo Jury Prize at the CHICAGO Festival; at MAR DEL PLATA Festival it won Best Direction for Pedro Costa, Best Actor for Ventura and Best Photography for Leonardo Simões; at the GIJÓN Festival, Principado de Asturias Prize for Best Film and Best Photography for Leonardo Simões; at the CAMINHOS DO CINEMA PORTUGUÊS Festival, winner of The Festival's Grand Prix, Best Actress and Best Photography, for Leonardo Simões. It also won the Best Film Award from the Portuguese Society of Authors.