Born in Vila do Conde (Portugal). Based in Berlin.

Portuguese filmmaker working predominantly with 16mm and 8mm film, pushing the boundaries between analog, digital and live cinema. Extending the limits and aesthetic of analog medium by manipulating the raw materials, challenging the traditional process and continually expanding the visual and technological heritage of classic film methods.

His work has been presented and exhibited at renowned film festivals, institutions and galleries, including The Barbican Center, Serralves Museum, The Centre Pompidou, Tokyo Contemporary Art Museum, Armenian Centre for Contemporary Experimental Art, MACBA Barcelona, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Mostra São Paulo, Curtas Vila do Conde, Indie Lisboa, amongst others.

Maia has contributed to projects to Patti Smith, Soundwalk Collective, Danny Elfman and Lucrecia Dalt and has presented solo performances as well collaborations with musicians such as Vessel, Shackleton, Holy Other, Visionist, Kevin Richard Martin, Shapednoise, Jacaszek, Shxcxchcxsh, Tropic of Cancer, Craig Leon, Lee Ranaldo, Raul Refree, Fennesz, Nisennenmondai, and many others, with presentations of these worldwide in leading festivals like Sonar, Unsound, Berlin Atonal, Ars Electronica, All Tomorrow’s Party, Mutek Montreal, Mutek Mexico, Dekmantel, TaicoClub Japan, Red Bull Music Academy, as well in renowned places like CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Eye Film Museum, Contemporary Cultural Center of Valencia, CaixaForum Barcelona, among others.

www.factmag.com/2020/05/27/primary-optics-pedro-maia

list of live cinema shows & live AV collaborations

Interview OpenLab 02/2020 – https://openlab.fm/news/interview-pedro-maia

“Pedro Maia approaches filmmaking from a boundary point of view: he has a specific interest in the material and physical qualities of the medium which lies hidden in the image and how they affect it, analyzing the beauty of its patina and how it fades away as its doubly temporal substrate, able to capture a time while also aging it as an object. From this position, Pedro Maia also seeks out the relationships of cinema as a language, comparing them to other modern languages, ranging from plastic art experimentation to the expanded film or video clip. But these are probably only words of a reflection that is far from what his films truly express: the tension between light and darkness, the struggle between desire and pain, poetry that emerges from each inner conflict.” – Curto Circuíto International Film Festival 2016