João Viana was born in Angola in 1966. In 1994, he got a degree in law by the University of Coimbra and studied cinema in Porto. He works in production, sound, story-board, directing and, finally, screenwriting. In 2007, he wrote Red Eyes for Paulo Rocha. In the meantime, he worked with the filmmakers José Alvaro, Rob Rombout, Filipe Rocha, Sagueneil, Seixas Santos, Cesar Monteiro, Grilo, Biette, Manoel de Oliveira, Schroeter and, in 2004, he started to direct his own films. With Iana Ferreira, he directed The Swimming Pool (Venice Festival). In 2013 his first feature film The Battle of Tabatô had its premiere. The film, which action takes place in Guinea-Bissau, got Honorable Mention in Berlinale 2013 in the category Best First Film of Festival. In 2009 Viana founded film production company Papavernoir .