Cláudia Varejão was born in Porto, Portugal, and studied film in the Artistic Creativity and Creation Program of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in collaboration with the German Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin and the International Film Academy in São Paulo. She also studied photography at AR CO in Lisbon. She directed the documentary short Wanting and the fiction short film trilogy Weekend, Cold Day and Morning Light. Her feature debut was In the Darkness of the Theater I Take Off My Shoes, followed by Ama San, filmed in Japan. Alongside her work as a director, she has also developed a career in photography.
