João Mário Lourenço Bagão Grilo (born 8 November 1958) is a Portuguese film director, author and professor, born in Figueira da Foz. He attended economics at the University of Coimbra but dropped out. In 1983, he graduated in sociology at Lisbon's ISCTE and in 1994 earned a Ph.D. in communication sciences from the NOVA University Lisbon. He is a full professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the NOVA University Lisbon, where, among other courses, he teaches Filmology and Film Direction. His first long feature film won the Georges Sadoul Prize at the Venice Film Festival.