Directing

João Gonzalez

Born February 11, 1996 · Porto, Portugal (age 30)

João Gonzalez (Porto, 1996) is a Portuguese director, animator, illustrator and musician with classical training in piano. In 2022 he premiered his first funded film “Ice Merchants” in Cannes Film Festival, winning Best Short Film in Competition from the Semaine de La Critique Jury, which would later become the first Portuguese film to be nominated for an Oscar®, and the most awarded Portuguese fi…

Known For

Ice Merchants

Ice Merchants · 2023

MovieAnimationDrama

Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.

The Voyager

The Voyager · 2017

"The Voyager" is an animation short film about a pianist living in a big metropolis, who suffers from agoraphobia (irrational fear of leaving home/public places) and is confronted with a need to go outside, to replenish his medications.

Slow Light

Slow Light · 2022

MovieAnimationDrama

A story of a man with a very dense eyes who sees all the surrounding reality only after seven years. The consequence of the eye defect translates into the mental immaturity of the man, lack of understanding of the present and belated reflections on long-gone facts. The man is never mature enough for his age and constantly lingers on the past.

Nestor

Nestor, a man with several obsessive-compulsive behaviours lives in an unstable houseboat which never stops oscillating.

Nigel

A short film based on the true story of Nigel, the lonely gannet of Mana Island who hopelessly fell in love with a concrete statue. His tragic tale of idealisation and delusion shows us a reflection of our own misconceptions in love. MA Graduation film from Royal College of Art, London.

Filmography

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Ice Merchants

Ice Merchants · 2023

MovieAnimationDrama

Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.

Director

The Voyager

The Voyager · 2017

"The Voyager" is an animation short film about a pianist living in a big metropolis, who suffers from agoraphobia (irrational fear of leaving home/public places) and is confronted with a need to go outside, to replenish his medications.

Director

Slow Light

Slow Light · 2022

MovieAnimationDrama

A story of a man with a very dense eyes who sees all the surrounding reality only after seven years. The consequence of the eye defect translates into the mental immaturity of the man, lack of understanding of the present and belated reflections on long-gone facts. The man is never mature enough for his age and constantly lingers on the past.

Animation

Nestor

Nestor, a man with several obsessive-compulsive behaviours lives in an unstable houseboat which never stops oscillating.

Director

Nigel

A short film based on the true story of Nigel, the lonely gannet of Mana Island who hopelessly fell in love with a concrete statue. His tragic tale of idealisation and delusion shows us a reflection of our own misconceptions in love. MA Graduation film from Royal College of Art, London.

Animation