João Ribeiro

Joao Ribeiro was born in 1962, in Mozambique, and early in his life felt attracted to photography and cinema. When he was invited to work at the National Cinema Institute (INC)in 1997, he left a career as a teacher behind him. From Distribution and exhibition, from film archive to production he has done the trip until 1990 when he left his job as INC's Production Coordinator to study in Cuba, specializing as Film and TV Director and Production at International Cinema and Television School (EICTV). His teachers included the Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marques, Ronda Heynes (USA), Orlando Senna (Brazil) and Santiago Gutierrez Alea (Cuba), among other important film-makers. From 1992 he directed 3 Shorts "Fogata, "O Olhar das Estrelas" (Gaze of the Stars) and Tatana all them based on original stories from the Mozambican writer Mia Couto and has producer and co-producer has develop a variety of projects with colleges from all around the world (Ali, The Interpreter and Blood Dimond are some of the Hollywood movies he has been involved with). Joao Ribeiro is a founder member of AMOCINE (Mozambican Association of Film-Makers) and of SACOD (Southern African Communications for Development). He is also a member of INCD (International Network for Cultural Diversity), FAR (Filmmakers Against Racism) among other associations. He has taken part in various workshops and conferences, presenting and promoting Mozambican cinema and African cinema in general. He has also worked as a cinema monitor for various training workshops in Africa and in Europe. On TV, Joao Ribeiro has worked has Head of Production for TVM (Televisao de Mocambique) the Mozambique Public TV Channel (1999-2001) and later has Production and Technical Director for STV while he was one of the Board Members for SOICO (Sociedade Independente de Comunicacao) one of the biggest Media Groups in Mozambique (2005-2008). Today his the General Director for TIM (Televisao Independente de Mocambique) the new Independent TV Channel in Mozambique (2008).