Simão Cayatte

Simão Cayatte is a writer/director from Lisbon with Portuguese and Finnish background. He studied theatre at Goldsmiths University London and earned an MFA in film from Columbia University in New York where he also worked as a script development trainee at Darren Aronofksy’s Protozoa Pictures. His practice as an actor has had a strong influence on his writing and he has worked with directors such as Carlos Marques-Marcet, Cristèle Alves Meira, Ivo Ferreira, and Werner Schroeter.

His short films include A Viagem (The Trip), selected at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival Cinefóndation, and Menina (Young Lady), winner of the Portuguese Academy Award for Best Short and selected by the Académie des César for the Les Nuits en Or programme. His first feature film Vadio (Drifter), co-produced with France and Poland and developed at the 2017 edition of LIM | Less is More played and won awards at several festivals internationally including São Paulo International Film Festival, Oslo Film Festival and Lisbon Film Festival. He also directs television; notably, Vanda (Legendary Pictures) which was selected for the Berlinale Series Selects 2022 and distributed worldwide by Canal+, Hulu and Lionsgate. He is currently in post-production on his second feature film The Boatman produced by Leopardo Filmes. 

Simão combines his work as a filmmaker with his practice as a script-consultant, has collaborated with Le Groupe Ouest for several years, and is one of the Development Angels’ Dancing Partners in 2025.