Born in Lisbon, he left his course of studies in History to attend classes taught by the poet and filmmaker António Reis at the Lisbon Film School.
His first film O Sangue (Blood) had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, Settimana della Critica (SIC), in 1989.
Casa de Lava, his second feature, shot in Cabo Verde, screened in Cannes' 'Un Certain Regard', in 1994. The following Ossos was awarded an Osella d'Oro at the Venice Film Festival, in 1997. His other feature films include No quarto da Vanda (In Vanda's room), Où gît votre sourire enfoui? (Where does your hidden smile lie?) - on the work of Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub - Juventude em marcha (Colossal Youth) which premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, in 2006 and Ne change rien, with Jeanne Balibar, at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, in 2009.
Cavalo Dinheiro (Horse Money) was awarded the Leopard for Best Direction at the Locarno Film Festival, in 2014. Vitalina Varela won the Golden Leopard and the Best Actress Prize at the same festival, in 2019.
His work has been presented in retrospectives at the Cinematheque Française, the Spanish Filmoteca, the Cineteca Nacional de Mexico, the Tokyo Film Museum, Montreal Cinematheque, the Filmmuseum Munich, the Harvard Film Archive, Pacific Film Archive, the Wexner Museum, the Anthology Film Archives, RedCat Center, the Danish Film Institute, and the Tate Modern.
He has taught workshops at Cal Arts School for the Arts in Los Angeles, the Jan Van Eyck Academy in Maastricht and at the Film Factory, the school founded by Bela Tarr, in Sarajevo.
He worked with Chantal Akerman at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art Rotterdam and Carpe Diem Gallery in Lisbon. He is a guest professor at Zokei University in Tokyo.

Filmography
1987 - CARTAS A JULIA short
1990 - O SANGUE (BLOOD)
1994 - CASA DE LAVA
1997 - OSSOS (BONES)
2000 - NO QUARTO DA VANDA (IN VANDA'S ROOM)
2001 - DANIÈLE HUILLET, JEAN-MARIE STRAUB, CINÉASTES
in CINÉASTES, DE NOTRE TEMPS
2002 - ONDE JAZ O TEU SORRISO? (WHERE DOES YOUR HIDDEN SMILE LIE?)
2003 - 6 BAGATELAS, short
2003 - THE END OF A LOVE AFFAIR short
2006 - JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA (COLOSSAL YOUTH)
2007 - TARRAFAL, short
in O ESTADO DO MUNDO (THE STATE OF THE WORLD)
2007 - THE RABBIT HUNTERS (A CAÇA AO COELHO COM PAU) short
in MEMORIES, JEONJU DIGITAL PROJECT
2009 - NE CHANGE RIEN
2010 - O NOSSO HOMEM (OUR MAN) short
2012 - SWEET EXORCIST short
in CENTRO HISTÓRICO (HISTORICAL CENTER)
2014 - CAVALO DINHEIRO (HORSE MONEY)
2019 - VITALINA VARELA
2023 - AS FILHAS DO FOGO (THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE) short