Paulo Rocha was born in 1935, in Oporto.

He studied Cinema in the Institut des Hautes Études Cinematographiques, in Paris, working as assistant director to Jean Renoir and Manoel de Oliveira.

In 1963, he directed OS VERDES ANOS, a film centered around the relationship between the city and the countryside, which became a landmark for its connection with the movement that would be known as Cinema Novo Português.

Along with MUDAR DE VIDA (1966), OS VERDES ANOS constitutes a first moment
of the director’s career, presenting Portugal of that time with a sobriety that sets
it apart from the mannerisms of the light comedies that had been made in the years before.

Paulo Rocha was director of the Centro Português de Cinema (Portuguese Center of Cinema) in 1973-74 and as a Cultural Attaché of the Portuguese Embassy in Tokyo between 1975 and 1983. He was a teacher at Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema.

His last film, SE EU FOSSE LADRÃO... ROUBAVA, premiered posthumously in the 66th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.