João Gonzalez (born February 11, 1996) is a Portuguese film director and animator based in Porto.
He is mostly known for writing and directing the multi-award-winning short film Ice Merchants,[1] which premiered and was awarded at Cannes Film Festival the same year.
[2][3] On January 24, 2023, "Ice Merchants" became the first Portuguese production to ever receive an Academy Award nomination.
[4][5][6] Gonzalez did a Multimedia Arts BA at ESMAD in Porto, where he graduated in 2017, specialising in the field of animation.
[20] Gonzalez is the first Portuguese animation filmmaker to be awarded at Festival de Cannes, where his film Ice Merchants won the Jury Prize for Best Short film, in competition at the Critics Week.