Valerio Lopes is a Cape Verdean storyteller and director born in Luxembourg. He considers himself an African who left the continent before being born. Both his parents are Cape Verdean immigrants who left the country before its independence at times of hunger and unemployment. As a director, Cape Verde was at the center of Val's first documentary "Cabralista". He has lived an travelled the continent extensively, using his day job as an enabler and his curiosity as a reason to keep crossing borders while telling the stories of people and places.