André Lameiras is Director of BEAST International Film Festival, an event dedicated to the promotion of contemporary culture of Eastern Europe in the Portuguese territory. He is co-founder of OKNA, a cultural and artistic programing space of the 21 countries it represents. His inspiration on the region was developed during his 4 year stay in Poland, where he completed a Masters in Political Science with a special focus on the democratization of Eastern European Countries and Russia, as well as while working in the information centre Europe Direct and Camões Institute in Romania. He is frequently invited to speak at several universities in the areas of Filmmaking and Political Science.