Maria Esperança "Pocas" Pascoal, was born on 11 November 1963[1]:138 in Luanda, Angola, where she grew up until the age of 16 before leaving the civil war to Lisbon, Portugal with her sister.[2] Two years later, she returned to Angola and became the first camerawomen for television in Luanda.[3] In France, Pascoal studied at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinema Francais (CLCF) and graduated in film editing.