Director, screenwriter, videographer, Pocas Pascoal was born in Luanda where she trained in visual arts and became the first female Angolan camera operator. In France, she graduated in editing and worked for 15 years as an editor. In 1998, she made her first short film Pour Nous. She participated in various exhibitions including the Havana Biennale, Bordeaux Architecture Biennale and Luanda Triennale. Two other documentaries followed: Childhood Memories in 2000 and There's Always Someone Who Loves You in 2004. In 2008, she turned to fiction with the short film Demain Sera Différent. Based on her personal experience, she shot the feature film Alda and Maria in 2012. That was part of the Festival del Film Locarno Open Doors 2014, and won seven international awards.

 

In 2021, she directed the TV film A Palavra Mágica and the documentary Blow, which won the Árvore da Vida Award for Best Film at the IndieLisboa 2021. In 2022 she was invited by the Natural History Museum of Lisbon to create a video installation. In 2024 she participated at the Dakar Biennale and in the collective project GREENHOUSE, which represented Portugal at the 60th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia.

 

With Time to Change (2024), which is currently touring international festivals, having been presented, among others, in Locarno Open Doors 2026, Clermont-Ferrand IFF, Curtas Vila do Conde IFF; RIDM, Uppsala, FilmFest Dersden and premiered in theaters in Portugal in July 2025.

 

Currently in development, the feature film Sarah Maldoror.