Nicole Noia, 27 years-old filmmaker and photographer from Porto, Portugal, based in Antwerp, Belgium. What does this say about me? Absolutely nothing. So I’m going to tell a little bit more about myself, so you can understand where my work comes from.
I’m from a small town in Northern Portugal called Vila das Aves — which I’m quite proud being from. I spend a lot of time looking through windows, and also a reasonable amount of time thinking about how nostalgic it makes me feel. I came from a very nostalgic family, and it was looking to my family archives of VHS, Super 8, and photographs that portray our stories, over the years, that I discovered I'm passionate about stories told from a personal perspective and family portraits on film.
With a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Porto and a specialisation on Multimedia, I started my career at Canal180. For almost 6 years (2018-2023), I filmed, edited, photographed, writed and produced contents for their digital platforms. My passion for the archives motivated me to study for a masters in Documentary Cinema, which I finished in 2022 at ESMAD. My thesis, “Documentary cinema born from Memory and its relationship with death: Directing I fear the end of things,” reflects my deep interest in the narrative and visual power of memory.
My first short-film Mulher da minha gente (Women of my people) was exhibited at IndieLisboa and Curtas Vila do Conde film festivals. Tenho medo do fim das coisas (I fear the end of things), my second short-film second short film and the final project of my Master’s Degree in Documentary Cinema, premiered at Porto/Post/Doc in 2023 and was also part of Porto Femme’s 2024 competition.
I recently moved to Antwerp in Belgium to work at the film production company Harald House. I currently work as head of submissions, production assistant and assistant editor on several projects, such as feature films Trona, 24 Strong, Slave Island, or Epilogues. In the past years, I‘ve also worked as an editor, data wrangler, and assistant director. Of particular note is Tânia Dinis most recent short-film Tão Pequeninas, Tinham Ar de Serem Já Crescidas (2024), which premiered at IndieLisboa and won Best Portuguese Short Film for which I was the main editor. I’ve also been a moderator for the past two editions of Portuguese International film festival Family Film Project.
photo credits: Jorge Sermini
CONTACT
If you think we should collaborate (or you'd like to be friends), get in touch at hellonicolenoia@gmail.com