Miguel Gonçalves Mendes

Miguel Gonçalves Mendes (born September 2, 1978 in Covilhã) is a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and producer.

He is the author of José and Pilar (2010), a documentary about writer and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, co-produced by Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her, The Skin I Live In) and his brother Augustín, and Fernando Meirelles (City of God and The Constant Gardener). In 2011, after a successful international festival circuit, the movie spurred an unprecedented popular movement in Portugal resulting on a petition signed by 1400 people (0.00014% of Portugal's population), which in turn sparked a debate over Portuguese cinema and a campaign for the Oscar nominations in Los Angeles and New York. Currently, Miguel is at the post-production stage of his new documentary, The Meaning of Life, produced by Fernando Meirelles, which has been dealing with issues to raise finishing funds. Miguel studied International Relationships (ISCSP – Technical University of Lisbon) and History – Archaeology (New University of Lisbon) before graduating in Film by the Lisbon Theatre and Film School, specializing in Film Editing. In 2002, he founded JumpCut, through which he produced all his projects until 2014.