With a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Anabela Oliveira has been lecturing Cinema and Literature; Interart Studies, Film and Painting; Cinema and Documentary; Portuguese Cinema; Sound, Image and Audiovisual Narrative; Aesthetics and Audiovisual Analysis, from 2001 to the present, in the BA and Master's degrees at UTAD and ESAP. Oliveira develops her scientific research in the field of interarts studies, namely the relationships between literature and cinema, literature and architecture and also the filmographies of Manoel de Oliveira, Federico Fellini and Jacques Tati. Researcher at Labcom/IFP, she has delivered talks and seminars, as invited lecturer, at several universities and institutes (Paris III, Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Utrecht, Warsaw, Lublin and Gdansk) on the presence of film in the contemporary Portuguese fiction, and on the filmographic work of Fernando Meirelles, Manoel de Oliveira, Federico Fellini, and Jacques Tati, amongst others. She devised and taught the course “Cinema: Artistic Alchemy” as part of the “Reflection, Creation and Debate” course at the Serralves Foundation, from 19 October to 21 December 2009. She is a member of the Organising Committee of the International Meeting Cinema and the Other Arts, held at the University of Beira Interior since 2016.
Fernanda Franco has a strong track record in cinema, having worked for several film festivals across London, liaising with a range of film venues and institutions such as the Whitechapel Gallery and Tate Modern. She is the co-founder of the Global Film Industry Cafe, a global filmmaking community running events and training to develop aspiring screenwriters, including the Screen & Story Film Festival, a free global online platform that aims to enhance and empower filmmakers and writers around the world. The festival’s second edition in 2021 live-streamed 104 titles from 39 countries in 11 days alongside an international screenwriting contest. Her latest project was the inaugural and sold out film festival in partnership with the Institute of Contemporary Arts of London, showcasing an exclusive programme of films made by Indigenous filmmakers from Brazil to coincide with the COP26. She has contributed with the Utopia film festival, a championing project in partnership with Institute Camões that has been running for 12 years promoting films from Portuguese-speaking countries in the UK. She has also curated film programmes for various venues including the Horniman Museum and RichMix. Fernanda has also worked for the Brazilian Embassy in London, Canning House and the Barbican Centre. She has collaborated in several short films and produced two feature documentaries, which are part of an authorial trilogy. The latest was shot in London, Paris, Rio and across the USA and it is in post-production. She also acts as a script consultant and story adviser when not writing screenplays. She is currently developing a comedy TV series and writing her first novel.
Heidi Basch-Harod is the Executive Director of Women's Voices Now (WVN), a nonprofit organisation using film to drive positive social change that advances girls' and women's rights globally. Ms. Basch-Harod is also the founding editor of WVN's digital publication "The WVoice".
WVN holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Ms. Basch-Harod brings her experience in international human rights advocacy from her work with the Tibetan Nuns Project, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress, and the Palestine-Israel Journal.
Girls' Voices Now is the youth development programme of Women's Voices Now and it features films that amplify voices of young women from underrepresented communities in Los Angeles. Girls' Voices Now (2019) recently won "Daytime Outstanding Short Form Children's Program" Emmy Award 2021.
Manuel José Damásio is Director of the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at Universidade Lusófona and Associate Professor at the University of Minho. He holds a PhD in Communication from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He is the author of several books and articles in peer-reviewed national and international publications. He is the Coordinator of the European University FILMEU - The European University for Film and Media Arts Project: 101004047, EPP-EUR-UNIV-2020 European Universities, EPLUS2020 Action Grant. 2018/2022). He is a member of the European Association of Film and Audiovisual Schools (GEECT - Groupe Europeen des Ecoles de Cinema et Television) and a member of the Executive Committee of the CILECT Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision.