José Miguel Ribeiro was born in 1966 in Amadora, Portugal. He graduated in Visual Arts at Fine Art School in Lisbon and studied drawing and puppets animation in Lazzenec-Bretagne – Rennes and in Filmógrafo – Oporto in 1993/4. During several years he taught puppets animation in Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. He was animator of “Os Salteadores” directed by Abi Feijó among other films. He co-directed “O Ovo”, which won several international awards and other short animations for Portuguese version of Sesam’s Street. In 1996 and for the first time, he won an award in Cinanima with “O Banquete da Rainha”. He directed “A Suspeita”, which won the Cartoon D’Or 2000 and more 25 international awards. In 2007 he founded, with Nuno Beato and Eva Yébenes, the production company Sardinha em Lata.