João Salaviza (1984) studied Cinema at the Lisbon Theater and Film School and the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His first short film Arena was awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes (2009), followed by the Golden Bear for Short Films at the Berlinale for Rafa (2012). His first feature film, Mountain (2015), had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Critics Week). Since then, he has lived between Portugal and Brazil with the Krahô indigenous people. In 2018, The Dead and the Others (co-directed with Renée Nader Messora) premiered at Cannes Film Festival, receiving the Special Jury Prize – Un Certain Regard. In 2023, he returned to Cannes to premiere The Buiriti Flower, co-directed with Renée Nader Messora.