Luís Galvão Teles was born in Lisbon in 1945, in a family that has strong links to the Douro region. After graduating with a BA honours degree in law, he worked as an assistant director for the public broadcaster, Rádio Televisão Portuguesa and in 1968 attended the Institut de Formation Cinématographique in Paris. In 1972 he directed his first medium length feature “Bestiaire”,  that won an award in the Bérgamo Film Festival.

As a member of the Portuguese Cinema Centre, in 1972 he directed the film “Entremês Famoso Sobre da Pesca do Rio Minho”. In 1974 he co-founded the Cinequanon cooperative that produced works which captured the key issues raised during the post-Revolutionary period.

He directed his first feature film, “The Confederation”, in 1978 and in 1997, he founded the production company Fado Filmes.  Since then he has produced over 15 co-productions including his award-winning film, “Elles”, together with “Jaime”, by António-Pedro Vasconcelos - one of Portugal’s biggest box office hits - and the widely acclaimed “Fados”, by Carlos Saura, featuring Mariza, Carlos do Carmo, Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque amongst many others. His most recent feature film, “Dot.Com”, is a comedy about the impact of the internet on a small Portuguese village. He is currently preparing a new feature film, “Ice”, about love beyond death.