Francisco Lacerda

Francisco Lacerda is a Portuguese American writer/director based in Azores, Portugal. He is one of the creators of the midnight screening sensation short films "Dentes e Garras!" and "Dentes e Garras 2" which were both nominated for a Méliès Award on MOTELX and were consequently acquired by Troma Entertainment for distribution. In 2017, Francisco co-wrote and co-directed with Francisco Lopes the short film "Freelancer", which proved to be a success with audiences worldwide and won Best Short Film at the 2018 Horrorvision Film Festival. In the twelfth edition of MOTELX Film Festival the term "Azoresploitation" was coined to describe Francisco's works as a unique sub-genre of Portuguese exploitation/ splatter cinema made only in the Azores Islands and by Azores filmmakers and artists. His latest short film "Karaoke Night", which had its North American premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, has cemented the term "Azoresploitation" has an actual sub-genre of Portuguese exploitation cinema, making Francisco a pioneer of this genre.