Joel Brandão

Joel Brandão is a Portuguese film producer whose work bridges independent cinema and audiovisual production, guided by a sustained attention to the margins — whether geographic, emotional, or narrative. He holds a Master’s degree in Cinema and Audiovisual from the School of Arts at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Multimedia from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. Joel has developed a production practice that combines technical precision, artistic sensitivity, and a strong commitment to listening and representing otherness.

He began his professional career in creative agencies and content production companies, where he worked as a director, editor, and, most importantly, as a producer. During this period, he created audiovisual campaigns for brands such as UBER, Flama, Bosch, Vulcano, and Comic Con. From 2012 to 2016, these early years functioned as a true laboratory for technical and aesthetic experimentation, where advertising language provided a training ground for a progressively more author-driven approach. This phase shaped his eye for detail, rhythm, and the narrative potential of moving images — skills he later brought into the world of cinema.

In 2016, Joel began focusing more directly on film production. That year, he produced and directed the music video Sea and the Breeze by musician Dan Riverman, already showing a strong interest in the intersection of music and visual storytelling. He also joined the crew of the short film Regresso by Pedro Branco as assistant director. Shot in the city of Chaves and awarded at the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), the film had a lasting impact on his approach to production, particularly in the way it portrayed space and emotional landscapes.

Joel’s debut as a film producer came in 2017 with Margem, a short film that he also directed and that screened at several national and international festivals. It was selected as a semifinalist at the Los Angeles CineFest and showcased at events such as Caminhos do Cinema Português, the Rome Independent Cinema Festival, and the Mostra de Cinema Português. Produced on a modest budget but with deep artistic and emotional investment, Margem demonstrated Joel’s ability to bring together emerging talent, visual precision, and thematically rich content — focusing on solitude, desire, and the longing to belong. The film marked a clear declaration of intent: to film what resists, what lingers, what pulses on the edge of dominant narratives.

In the following years, Joel further established himself as an independent producer, investing in author-driven projects that explore listening, everyday life, and marginality as poetic and political strategies. In 2022, he traveled to Asia to produce and direct the documentary You Are What We See, filmed in Macau and Hong Kong, with support from the Fundação Oriente and the University of Saint Joseph. Conceived as a visual and observational diary, the project sought to capture the everyday vibrancy of these layered cities, where cultures, histories, and silences converge. As producer, Joel oversaw all stages of the project — from funding and pre-production to post-production — successfully managing an international shoot while remaining attentive to the cultural complexity of the context. The resulting film is a sensitive mosaic of urban life, blending contemplative visuals with a politically attuned gaze.

In 2024, he completed production on his first fiction feature film, O Céu em Queda (The Waning Sky), directed by Carlos Ruiz Carmona. The film explores the ambiguous zones of desire, love, and the pain of living with the marks of our choices. It premiered in November at the Caminhos do Cinema Português festival, where it received a Special Jury Mention, and is set for international release in 2025, with confirmed screenings in Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. Theatrical distribution is also planned for the same year. As producer, Joel accompanied the entire process, ensuring the conditions for a demanding and poetic work to unfold. O Céu em Queda stands as a milestone in his career, consolidating a production methodology rooted in experimentation, emotional depth, and artistic rigor.

Currently, Joel Brandão is producing three new feature-length documentaries in various stages of development, production, and post-production. His ongoing work reaffirms a cinematic practice based on listening, observation, and a desire to interrogate reality through the lens of art. As a producer, Joel is deeply involved in all aspects of creation, shaping not only logistical structures but also nurturing the emotional and artistic space necessary for cinema to happen. He sees the role of the producer not as a mere manager of resources, but as someone who builds the conditions — physical, emotional, symbolic — for artistic vision to take form.