Born in 1969 in Coimbra, Portugal, Regina Pessoa spent her childhood listening to family stories and watching her uncle draw pictures on the walls of her grandmother’s house. It was her first step toward the world of animation. More practically, she studied various animation techniques during her studies at the Porto School of Fine Arts. At the Portuguese studio Filmógrafo, she worked on a number of films by Abi Feijó before producing her own first short film in 1999, entitled The Night. This delicate work was followed by Tragic Story with Happy Ending (2005) and Kali the Little Vampire (2012), two films that, along with the first, form a marvellous trilogy about childhood. The winner of numerous awards all over the world, Pessoa has reached new artistic heights with her masterful 2019 film, Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days. (Photo : Rene Volfik)