About Diogo Pessoa de Andrade
Filmmaker · Director · Producer · Cinematographer (DoP) · Videographer
Based in Lisbon, working across Portugal · Available internationally for selected projects.
I’m Diogo Pessoa de Andrade, a Portuguese filmmaker whose work moves between directing, producing, cinematography, videography, editing and post-production, depending on what each project actually needs.
My work ranges from short films and feature-length documentaries — including the 94-minute Sikat Subar — A Hidden Colorful Feather, supported by Portugal’s Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) through the 2020 Support for the Completion of Cinematographic Works — to commercials, corporate and institutional films, branded content, promotional videos, music videos, interviews, events and location-based productions. Sometimes I work independently with a compact setup; sometimes I build a crew around the project; and sometimes I join an existing production in a clearly defined role.
What I can create for you
Different projects need different forms. I create film and video work ranging from short company introductions and branded stories to documentary portraits, scripted brand films, corporate productions, event coverage, property films, destination films, educational and awareness films, campaign videos and music videos. The production can be kept compact or expanded with the crew and specialists the project requires.
Branded Stories & Documentary Portraits
Documentary-led films about companies, founders, people, places, values and the stories behind a brand.
Featured: Go With The Wind — A Journey of Freedom and Creativity Explore corporate & branded work →Narrative Brand Films
Scripted and concept-driven films using actors, scenes and narrative storytelling to communicate a company, brand or idea.
Featured: Huawei — The Power of an Engineer’s Promise Explore commercial & advertising work →
Corporate & Company Films
Company profiles, employee stories, customer case studies and films explaining services, technology, processes and impact.
Featured: Google — Growth Engine for Business Explore corporate films →Brands, Designers & Creators
Films focused on products, craftsmanship, creative identity and the people behind brands and independent projects.
Featured: 707 Julia — The Journey Begins Explore promotional work →Real Estate & Property Films
Cinematic property and architecture films for real estate, developments, premium spaces and location-driven projects.
Featured: Fjord Capital — Premier Properties in Portugal Explore promotional work →Events & Conferences
Conferences, launches, interviews, presentations, corporate gatherings and event highlight coverage.
Featured: LUCE — Event Videography Explore videography services →Promotional & Lifestyle Films
Films for wellness, services, experiences, hospitality and projects where atmosphere, people and identity are central to the story.
Featured: Algarve Wellness — Holistic Retreat Explore promotional films →Travel, Tourism & Destination Films
Destination films and stories built around places, tourism experiences, food, culture, landscapes and local identity.
Featured: Lisbon — Tracing the Roots of an Imperial Cuisine Explore destination & promotional work →Social Impact & NGOs
Films for NGOs, institutions and international programmes built around dialogue, participation, communities and social impact.
Featured: KAICIID International Fellows Programme Explore social-impact work →Education & Awareness Films
Educational and awareness films designed to explain issues, support learning and make social, civic or public-interest subjects more accessible.
Featured: Youth Rights Explore education & awareness work →Advertising & Commercial Films
Product-led, branded and commercial films built around a clear visual concept, from studio product cinematography to campaign content combining live action, design and digital imagery.
Featured: Introducing LEDSRACE — Director’s Cut Edition Explore advertising & commercial work →Music Videos & Artist Films
Performance-led, conceptual and narrative music videos developed with artists around the identity, mood and story of the music.
Featured: RAMMA — O Inferno Arde em Mim Explore music videos →The format changes with the project. I may work as director, producer, cinematographer or videographer, handle several stages of the production myself, or assemble the crew and specialists required to take the project from concept to delivery.
One filmmaking practice, different roles
The simplest way to describe what I do is that I am a filmmaker. Director, producer, cinematographer / Director of Photography, videographer, editor, post-production professional and AI filmmaker are not separate identities, but different responsibilities within the same filmmaking process. Which of those roles I take on depends on the type, scale and specific needs of each project.
My involvement can begin with the creative concept and continue through pre-production, production, directing, cinematography, editing, colour, sound, finishing and final delivery. In commercial and corporate work this can overlap with what is often described as a video producer role, but I frequently remain directly involved in both the creative and technical stages rather than handing the project from one department to another. In some cases, that involvement extends beyond completion: with Sikat Subar — A Hidden Colorful Feather, for example, I was the original creator, writer, primary producer, director and cinematographer, and I also handled the work that led to the film securing international distribution, including availability on U-NEXT in Japan. The film’s editing and post-production were handled by FilmesDaMente.
That does not mean every production is done alone. The scale and requirements of the project determine the structure. When needed, I draw on the network of filmmakers, camera and lighting professionals, sound specialists, production crew, drone operators, editors, post-production collaborators, suppliers and other services developed through years of work in Portugal and internationally. The role may change from project to project; the objective is to make all those parts work together as one coherent production.
A multidisciplinary path into film
My relationship with images began before filmmaking, through visual arts. I grew up in the Algarve, where that interest expanded through youth and cultural associations into projects involving visual and performing arts, music and literature. Cultural exchange and non-formal education were central to many of those initiatives, leading me to participate in and help organise projects in Portugal and at European level. Many of the relationships, partnerships and national and international networks developed during that period have endured and continue to play an important role in the work I do today.
I later moved to Lisbon to attend university and study mechanical engineering. After completing my university studies, I made Lisbon my base, partly because of its more central position within Portugal. I then undertook extensive training in multimedia, image and sound, initially focusing on how different media could be combined to communicate information and make complex content more accessible.
From 2003 onwards, this became my professional starting point. I developed interactive multimedia applications, educational and e-learning content, audiovisual presentations and multi-platform projects combining text, photography, sound, video and archival material. Some involved making historical and documentary archives accessible to wider audiences; others were created for training, public institutions and European youth projects. This work gradually moved me further into video, editing, post-production and audiovisual storytelling, while also leading to training and consultancy in digital video and new media.
While based in Lisbon, I maintained cultural and professional ties to the Algarve through associations, producers, musicians and artists working in theatre and film. Over the years I have also collaborated with production companies and professionals in Aveiro, Porto and other parts of Portugal. That combination of places, disciplines and people still influences how I approach production today.
Stories, meaning and memory
Stories have always been one of the ways we make sense of the world and pass that understanding to others. Long before cinema, they carried knowledge, memory, beliefs, traditions, identity and culture from one generation to the next.
They help us explain where we come from, what we value, what we fear, what we hope for and even how we imagine what may exist beyond our own lives. Facts can inform us, but stories give those facts context, meaning and a form that is easier to understand, remember and pass on.
Film continues that same tradition through image, sound, movement, people, places and time. That is the common thread behind very different kinds of work, from documentary and cultural projects to corporate films, branded stories and commercial productions.
Directing, cinematography and the finished film
I see directing as something that begins long before the camera rolls. A director has to understand what the film is trying to say, who it is speaking to, how it should feel, what can realistically be achieved and how performance, camera, sound, production, editing and music will eventually become one coherent piece.
That way of thinking also influences how I work when I am not directing. As a cinematographer, Director of Photography or videographer, I tend to look beyond the individual shot and consider how the material will live inside the finished film.
Cinematography is where many of those ideas become visible. There are moments when an image, a place, a face or a particular quality of light makes us stop and look. My work with camera and light is built around attention to composition, movement, colour and visual continuity, whether a production is carefully controlled or filmed quickly in real locations.
The objective is not simply to make an image attractive. It is to make the image contribute to what the film is trying to make an audience understand, feel or remember.
Why stories sell
Storytelling does not only preserve memory or explain the world. It also shapes desire. We have always bought more than things: we buy what stories allow us to imagine around them — comfort, status, belonging, freedom, beauty, security, memory, love or meaning.
What is being offered may be material, but what attracts us to it can be emotional, symbolic or spiritual. Sometimes that promise even reaches beyond our own lifetime, into ideas of legacy, remembrance, transcendence or eternity. Long before modern advertising, stories were already shaping what people desired, feared, believed in and hoped for.
That is why I approach commercials, corporate films, branded content and promotional video as storytelling rather than decoration. Before deciding how something should look, it is worth understanding what it means to the people who are supposed to care about it.
Production: turning ideas into something real
Ideas still have to survive contact with the real world. Film and video production means turning an intention into locations, schedules, people, equipment, transport, permissions, interviews, budgets and decisions made under real constraints.
Some projects need one filmmaker with a camera, sound and a compact lighting kit. Others need several cameras, assistants, dedicated sound, lighting, drone operators, studios, rental equipment or a wider production crew. I prefer to build the production around what the film genuinely needs rather than make every project unnecessarily heavy.
Depending on the assignment, I may work as a producer, director, DoP or videographer, assemble a small crew around the production, or integrate into an existing team. The scale changes; the responsibility does not.
That becomes particularly important when an international production comes to Portugal. Local production support is ultimately built on trust: knowing what is realistic, who to call, how locations and suppliers work, how to communicate locally and how to solve problems before they become expensive ones.
Being based in Lisbon, having grown up in the Algarve and having worked with people and production companies in different parts of the country gives me a practical network beyond one city. When required, I can help visiting productions with local crews, location scouting, equipment, studios, permits, transport and other production resources in Portugal.
Technology changes. The responsibility does not.
Filmmaking has always changed with its tools. Cameras changed, editing moved from film to digital, visual effects became accessible to smaller productions, and artificial intelligence is now becoming part of the same evolving creative landscape.
I see AI filmmaking as another extension of the creative process rather than a substitute for judgement, experience or authorship. The same applies to editing, colour grading and post-production more broadly: technology can expand what is possible, but someone still has to decide what belongs in the film, what does not, and why.
Whether I am working with images captured on location or exploring newer digital tools, responsibility for the final image and story remains human.
Training, Workshops & Industry Consulting
Alongside production, I also work in professional training and industry consulting, including cinematography training, filmmaking workshops, practical on-set workflow mentoring and multimedia storytelling. I collaborated as a consultant and guest lecturer on Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF’s “Anything is a Storytelling Device”, a cross-media and transmedia programme involving students from the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg in Potsdam, Aalto University in Finland and the Baltic Film and Media School at Tallinn University, supported by the EU MEDIA programme. I have also worked with the Erich Pommer Institut as a speaker and consultant for industry training.
I have delivered workshops and courses for film, multimedia and creative schools, including ETIC, Academia FLAG, EPAD, Forino, LXSchool and Espai Virreina in Barcelona. In Portugal, I designed and taught training programmes for the Algarve Film Commission.
For STV – SOICO Television in Mozambique, I designed the complete Video Journalism curriculum and delivered an intensive training programme for television journalists from across the country, focused on field production, reporting workflow, camera and audio fundamentals, and post-ready delivery.
My signature Intensive Digital Cinema Workshop focuses on production-ready digital cinema workflow, from set to post. More information is available on the Workshops & Training page.
The same thread
My role changes from project to project. The underlying approach does not: understand what needs to be said, work out the best way to make it real, surround the project with the right people and tools, and never forget that, in the end, someone will be watching.
Filmmaker, Producer, Director & Cinematographer (DoP) / Videographer
Based in Lisbon · Working across Portugal · Available internationally for selected projects.