João Gonzalez (1996) is a Portuguese film director, animator, illustrator and a musician with classical training in piano. Recipient of a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, he did a MA at the Royal College of Art (UK), after finishing his BA at ESMAD (PT). In these institutions he made two multi-award-winning films, Nestor and The Voyager. In 2022 he became the first Portuguese animation filmmaker to be awarded at Festival de Cannes, winning the Jury Prize for Best Short film in competition at the Critics Week, with Ice Merchants.