Pocas Pascoal

Pocas Pascoal is an Angolan female film director.

Maria Esperança, also known as "Buen" Pascoal, was born in 1963 in Luanda, Angola, where she grew up until the age of 16 before leaving the civil war to Lisbon, Portugal with her sister. Two years later, she returned to Angola and became the first camerawomen for television in Luanda. In France, Pascoal studied at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinema Francais (CLCF). She graduated in 2002 from film editing, and joined a group of artists known as Cité. In this group, Pascoal took part in several contemporary arts exhibitions. Currently Pascoal lives between Paris and Lison, where she is working on her next feature film that will tell the love story between a South African soldier and an Angolan.

In 1998, she directed her first short fiction film in India "For us" and two documentaries: "Childhood Memories" (2000) and "There is always somebody who loves you" (2004). She also directed and the short film “Tomorrow will be different “(2008). In 2011 she directed her first feature film “Over here everything is fine”, which is a story based on her exile from Portugal. This film received the Best Film at the international Festival of Los Angeles. The film has also been produced under the name “Alda and Maria” which was released in January 2015. Her work has been featured in over 20 festivals worldwide since she began her career as a film maker.

• Childhood Memory (2000)
• There is always somebody who loves you (2003)
• Tomorrow will be different (2009)
• Por Aqui Tudo Bem / "Alda and Maria" (2011)

• Best Film at the International Film Festival of Los Angeles
• Award for Best Film at FIC Luanda Angola Festival
• Price of the European Union at FESPACO
• Best film in the national competition at the International Festival of Independent Cinema IndieLisboa Lisbon
• Award for Best Actress at the Documentary Film Festival of Khouribga
• Best Actress Award at the Carthage International Festival
• Best Portuguese feature-length at the International Independent Film Festival (rtp.pt)
• Best Sound festival colors of Ethiopia