Our history

Production company David & Golias — Audiovisuais e Eventos Culturais, Lda. was founded by Luis Alvarães and Fernando Vendrell in 1992. After a first period in which it produced theater and cinema, the company became predominantly an audiovisual production structure from 1998. Currently, David & Golias develops and produces feature films, short films, documentaries, and television series by national and international creators, betting on experience, innovation, and quality. The projects are developed by teams with diverse artistic backgrounds, introducing young creators and presenting promising artists and technicians, developing innovative ways to produce new cinema and television projects.

Our portfolio includes 44 films (13 feature films, 20 short films, 11 documentaries) and 6 television series, with productions having premiered and traveled to numerous national and international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Edinburgh, Toronto, Stockholm, São Paulo, New Directors/New Films/MOMA, Austin SX/SW, Karlovy Vary, Busan, Fantasporto, IndieLisboa, Curtas de Vila do Conde and Caminhos do Cinema Português, among many others. The company has already won numerous national and international distinctions, awards, and nominations, including the World Dramatic Competition of SUNDANCE 2005.

Most of its catalog has either been released in theaters and distributed in DVD format, either broadcasted in numerous national and international television channels. Some productions have obtained international distribution and diffusion on several continents.

Our team

Fernando Vendrell

Director, producer and scriptwriter

(Lisboa, 1962)

Luís Alvarães

Scriptwriter, director and producer

(Castelo Branco, 1961)

Ana Figueira

Executive Producer, Financial Management and General Coordination

(Lisboa, 1968)

Sandra Silva

Accountant Assistant

(Lisboa, 1978)

Milene Coroado

Technical Supervisor and Production Assistant

(Santarém, 1992)

Renata Amorim

Communication and Translations Manager

(Rio de Janeiro, 1970)

Leonor Batista

Project Development

(Lisboa, 1999)

Fernando Vendrell

Director, producer and scriptwriter

(Lisboa, 1962)

In 1985, Fernando Vendrell graduated as an Editor at the School of Cinema of the National Conservatory, having studied with António Reis, Alberto Seixas Santos, Jacques Aumont, Jorge Silva Melo, Luís Miguel Cintra, e Paulo Rocha.

Between 1981 and 1995, Fernando worked as a freelancer in numerous national and foreign feature films, in an array of roles: Unit Still Photographer, Script Supervisor, Assistant Editor, Assistant Director, Production Assistant, Executive Producer and Line Producer. He has directly worked with Manoel de Oliveira, José Nascimento, João César Monteiro, Margarida Gil, Raoul Ruiz, João Canijo, Manuel Mozos, José Fonseca e Costa, Carmo Moser, Henrique Espírito Santo, Paolo Branco e António da Cunha Telles, to name a few. In 1992, he was responsible for the shooting of Belle Epoque feature film by Fernando Trueba, which won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film in 1994.

In 1992, he co-founds the David&Golias Production Company with Luis Alvarães.

From 1992, he writes and produces his first feature film Fintar o Destino (1998) with Carla Baptista and Luís Alvarães, filmed in Portugal and Cape Verde. In 2000, he directs O Gotejar da Luz (2002), in Mozambique, followed by Pele (2006) and, more recently, Aparição (2018). In 2002, he produces Zézé Gamboa’s feature film O Herói (2004), in Angola, which won more than 20 international prizes, including the World Dramatic Competition at Sundance, 2005.

In 2004, he graduated in Production from the Cinema Course at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema – IPL. Throughout his professional career, he has consistently produced more than 90 projects: audiovisual and cinema works of fiction and documentary, both in long and short format.

In 2015, he was awarded the Career Award at Fantasporto for his overall cinema career as a director and producer.

Luís Alvarães

Scriptwriter, Director and Producer

(Castelo Branco, 1961)

Luís studied Editing and Scriptwriting at the School of Cinema of the National Conservatory.

He worked as an Assistant Director for Paulo Rocha, Margarida Cordeiro, António Reis and Pilar Miró.

In 1992, he co-founds the David&Golias Production Company with Fernando Vendrell.

In 1989, he directed the feature film O oiro do bandido and the television film Malvadez. In 1999, he directs two other television films, Não Há-de Ser Nada and Não se pode pensar em tudo. He has also directed the short films Directo (2009), in co-authorship with Luís Lopes, and O Meu País não Existe (2019), in partnership with Pedro Murteira. For TV, he has recently directed the documentary Editor contra (2022).

Luís worked as a scriptwriter for the first and second seasons of television series 3 Mulheres (2018 and 2022), as well as for two feature films: Pedro M. Ruivo’s A Força do Atrito (1989) and Zézé Gamboa’s O Grande Kilapy (2011).

With David&Golias, he has produced many feature films, such as O Grande Kilapy (2012), Noite Sangrenta (2010) by Tiago Guedes and Frederico Serra, and Fintar o Destino (1998), by Fernando Vendrell.

He has also staged theatre plays at Teatro da Comuna and Teatro da Trindade: O poço e o pêndulo (1994), adapted from Edgar Allan Poe, and Não há-de ser nada, adapted from Brandon Cole.

He currently works in the development and production of new projects at David&Golias. He is also writing the script for a new feature film, Limite de Idade, a biopic about Portuguese writer Vitorino Nemésio.

Ana Figueira

Executive Producer, Financial Management, and General Coordination

(Lisboa, 1968)

Having studied Economics and Administration, Ana switched from mathematics to the audiovisual field with RTP’s series Alves dos Reis (2000), where she was responsible for the Production Office. She continued her career in Francisco Moita Flores’ video production company, Antinomia, as Production Coordinator for O Processo dos Távoras (2001) series.

Between 2001 and 2005, she acted as Production Coordinator in over a dozen international productions, having collaborated with Production Directors Gerardo Fernandes and Luís Silva at António da Cunha Telles’ Animatógrafo II. Between productions, she supported countless advertising spots for different companies.

From 2005 to 2009, Ana has worked in Accounting and Management for Advertising Producer Montaini Films. In August 2009, she is hired by David&Golias to head the Production Office for Zézé Gamboa’s O Grande Kilapy.

Since then, she has been fully integrated in the company, having worked in all its cinema projects as Production Manager, Accountant and Manager: O Grande Kilapy (2012) by Zézé Gamboa, Em Segunda Mão (2012) by Catarina Ruivo, Bobô (2013) by Inês Oliveira, Cigano (2013) de David Bonneville, and Estive em Lisboa e Lembrei de Você (2015), by José Barahona; as well as TV series Noite Sangrenta (2010), by Tiago Guedes and Frederico Serra, and 3 Mulheres (2018) by Fernando Vendrell.

She worked as the Executive Producer in feature films Apariação (2018) and Sombras Brancas (2020) by Fernando Vendrell, Infância, Adolescência, Juventude (2018) by Rubén Gonçalves, Variações (2019) by João Maia, as well as in TV series 3 Mulheres Pós-Revolução (2021) by Fernando Vendrell, and Luís Alvarães’ documentary Editor Contra (2022).

Recently, she simultaneously played the roles of Executive Producer and Production Manager for José Barahona’s feature film Sobreviventes (2022).

Ana is one of the most valuable members of David&Golias, responsible for different areas, ranging from General Coordination to the Executive Production and Financial Management.

Sandra Silva

Accountant Assistant

(Lisboa, 1978)

Retired Portuguese Army (NATO) member, Sandra has studied Telecommunications and Administration. Deeply passionate by animals and photography, she is a Rolle Hockey National and European Champion.

She arrives to David&Golias during the COVID pandemic to perform the tasks of Accountant Assistant in Fernando Vendrell’s Sombras Brancas feature film (2020).

She has since then been enrolled in the team, having worked in several projects, such as 3 Mulheres — Pós-Revolução (2021) TV series, José Barahona’s Sobreviventes (2022) feature film, and the documentary Editor Contra (2022), by Luís Alvarães.

Milene Coroado

Technical Supervisor and Production Assistant

(Santarém, 1992)

Having graduated in Cinema from the school which succeeded the National Conservatory, Milene directed a short experimental film as her final undergraduate project, under the supervision of Professor João Milagre.

In academic context, she has given important contributions to sound and production departments, working on the filming of Portuguese films for directors such as Joana Carneiro Reis, Frederico Mesquita, Sara P. Mendes, Tomás Paula Marques, Bruno Leal, Diogo Vale, and Ana Luís Quintão. At a professional level, Milene has worked with Miguel Clara Vasconcelos, Albert Serra, and Fernando Vendrell.

She also dedicates herself to other artistic areas, especially relating to Sound Art, having completed her postgraduate course at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon.

She completed her Master’s degree in Aesthetics and Art Studies at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the NOVA University of Lisbon. Her final project was based on the substantiation of the concept of melancholy in the areas of phenomenology and the philosophy of cinema, in the directing of a short film entitled Neblina, under the guidance of Professor Luís Mendonça (À pala de Walsh/Dossier Arkadin).

Renata Amorim

Communication and Translations Manager

(Rio de Janeiro, 1970)

Renata graduated in Communication Sciences in 1993, received her Master Degree in Text Editing in 2004, and a Postgraduate Degree in Writing Arts in 2009 from the NOVA University of Lisbon, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences.

She officially joins David&Golias in 2020, but had already been collaborating with the company since 2017. Previously, she worked at the PUFF – Portugal Underground Film Festival. Although she has always been interested in the cinema industry, she spent 15 years at the André Jordan group.

She began her career as a Press Officer at Revolta das Ideias, and also worked for a year at SIGN, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

With a Degree in English, Renata also works in translation and text revision for David&Golias.

Leonor Batista

Project Development

(Lisboa, 1962)

With a Degree in Law from the University of Lisbon since 2022, Leonor has been part of various theatre groups, Painting, Philosophy (complementary course at the Luís Krus Foundation) and Cinema courses (theoretical-practical training, “Cinema – From Thought to Action”, at the Universidade Aberta). She was an environmental promoter and bookseller, at the Insurgentes bookshop and library. In the world of cinema, she has held various positions, such as driver, art assistant and production secretary. “My story is different, and it starts now. I’m always starting.” (Adília Lopes).