About

Hey, I’m Rafael, a Director, Screenwriter and Performer based in Lisbon, Portugal. I recently graduated in Film and Media Arts from Universidade Lusófona de Lisboa. Over the years I’ve explored different areas of filmmaking, from editing and producing to camera operation, but directing and writing are where I truly find my place.

A creator in general, passionate about storytelling in all its forms, from film and performance to drawing and visual arts. What fascinates me most are characters, their layers, and the emotional worlds they inhabit.I believe in the powerful way storytelling can transform, through metaphor, provocation, and the playful interplay between cinema’s sound and image.

My passion lies in the visual stories, in aesthetics, and in genre, always rooted in a deeply human core. When thoughtfully combined, these elements can spark a vital shift in both audiences and society.

I believe that by exposing fears and confronting truth with the weapons of cinema, we can truly make a difference. To unsettle is to open the way for repair, to show people what they might not want to see yet need to face. There is a certain rebellion in this approach, a conviction that cinema can challenge, provoke, and ultimately help heal humanity.

And yet I am not confined to cinema alone. I see myself constantly moving freely between mediums, guided by the idea itself. Sometimes a thought demands to be a film, other times it becomes a drawing, a photograph, a performance, or a song. I love the freedom of crossing these boundaries, following intuition rather than convention. These practices coexist, inform one another, and ultimately deepen my approach to cinema.

For me, eccentricity is not about spectacle but about authenticity, letting each idea find its proper form, whether it manifests on canvas, in sound, or on screen. Art is a rebellion against silence, and I believe in embracing that rebellion with every projec

As one of my big influences, David Lynch, once said, and who i have the pleasure to quote, if i may: 

“Everything that we do starts with an idea. … Ideas are like fish — and you don’t make the fish, you catch the fish. … I always say it’s like there’s a man in another room with the whole film together, but they’re in puzzle parts. And he’s flipping one piece at a time into me. And, at first it’s very abstract… More pieces come, more ideas are caught. It starts forming a thing. And then one day, there it is.” - David Lynch

I am also passionate about collaboration, believing that cinema especially is born from collective vision. But much more than talent, what truly makes collaboration powerful is the humanity of those involved. I am drawn to working with good people - people who are kind, generous and humble. To me, this matters even more than actual technical skill, because it is the spirit of respect and trust that allows any kind of project to flourish. Art, to me, is created for and by those who dare to feel - to embrace self emotion, to be comprehensible, to honor sensitivity, to be human without fear of it. So, to me, humanity is actually the secret ingredient that sustains any kind of creative project, much more than any kid of technical skill. Therefore i must say, i have a profound dislike for ego in the creative process.  It has no place in art.

To me, art is never about self aggrandizement or feeding an inflated sense of importance, i find that to be destructive. Where ego silences, humility listens; where ego separates, humanity and love connects. In nearly all my projects I have worked closely with cinematographer Rafaela Elias, a talented creative partner whose eye and sensibility have been essential to shaping the imagery of our projects.

From Kubrick, Lynch, and Lars Von Trier to Gaspar Noé, Scorsese, Aronofsky, Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson, Polanski and Tarantino. These figures have profoundly shaped my vision alongside in music, with figures like Bowie -  have taught me to embrace risk, to explore emotion, to experiment with form, and to dare to follow my creative instincts. Their work fuels my passion for raw performance, visual experimentation, eccentricity, surrealism, and abstraction, which continues to guide my journey as a seeker for ideas in different artistic mediums. 

At the heart of my practice lies a profound respect for all visual arts. I care deeply about every layer of creation -

from the poster design to the rhythm of editing, from the tone of a performance to the texture of an image. For me, cinema is the ultimate art form precisely because it gathers all others: music, painting, photography, performance, and sound, merging them into a single, immersive experience. It is perhaps the most complete expression of humanity’s need to tell stories, to share emotions, and to see ourselves mirrored in the eyes of another.

I have a profound passion for theatre and acting in general, I believe that in essence, we are all actors when we are creating something. There is something in us that seeks to change something, to communicate, to perform. And that performance can manifest in any medium. When we  make a film, we perform the characters, inhabit their lives, and study their worlds. We research, we observe, we immerse ouselves in stories that we don´t in first person, so that we deliver is worthy, authentic, and alive. Whether through cinema, drawing, music, or photography, our goal is always to transform some kind of a study into performance, and performance into emotion that reaches others.

Art, in all its forms, is essential to humanity. Cinema, by weaving them together, becomes an instrument of truth, a way of confronting the invisible and making it visible. This is where my passion lies, in creating works that resonate beyond the screen, that linger in the mind, provoke thought, and stir emotion.

The freedom to create, for me, is both a gift and a responsibility. It is the chance to transform emotions into art, to challenge, to provoke, and in the process, perhaps, to mend.

Rafael Sá Carneiro