MARIA GIL

2025 Edition Jury | National Jury, Actress and Theatre Director

Born in Porto in 1972, she is an actress, theatre director, human rights activist and public speaker.

It was through, and within, forum and community theatre that she developed her activist practice, particularly focused on the inclusion of the Roma people. She has also worked in cinema as an actress and co-writer, in the film Cães que Ladram aos Pássaros, by Leonor Teles. She also appeared in other award-winning short films screened at several international film festivals, such as Azul, by Ágata de Pinho, and As Gaivotas Cortam o Céu, by Mariana Bartolo and Guillermo García López.

On television, she played the role of Cármen in the series Braga, directed by Joaquim Leitão and Pedro Ribeiro, and produced by Tino Navarro. In 2023/24, she directed the play Homo Sacer, as part of the Odisseia Nacional initiative by Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II.

In 2021, she received an award at LEFFEST – Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival, as a Portuguese Roma personality who contributes to the promotion and dissemination of Roma culture.

She has taken part in and been featured in various publications related to anti-racist movements.