Films as windows *
Through film, I seek to unfold stories that can give alternative perspectives on social issues.
into unseen stories
Films as windows *
into unseen stories
Most of my creations emerge from fieldwork, research and personal experiences. They are rooted in a commitment to unfold social phenomena and inspire new looks.
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Documentary
Black Bird (2016, 52’)
Born out of a workshop in a correctional unit, this award-winning documentary unveils the dreams and daily lives of incarcerated Brazilian youth
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Black Bird began as a workshop at a Rio de Janeiro correctional unit in 2014, as part of the Videointeratividade Project. The process resulted in three short films created by the young participants, and revealed the challenges faced to recreate and share their life stories.
The documentary aims to explore the complexities of criminal identity and the dreams often confined alongside it. It won the 2015 Doctv Latin America edition and was screened in 23 countries, including Brazil’s TV Brasil. The film also circulated in correctional facilities, featuring a character who pursued his dream of becoming a rapper.
Notably, the project coincided with the arrival of my second child, Cicero, who joined me during much of the filming.
Keywords: Arts-based education, Documentary, Youth culture
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Documentary Series
Returnees (2017 , 8 x 28’)
A transatlantic journey tracing the legacy of Afro-Brazilian returnees
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In the 19th century, thousands of formerly enslaved Africans left Brazil and returned to Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana, bringing with them language, cuisine, architecture, and spirituality learned in the mixed Brazilian society. Returnees is a documentary series that traces the cultural legacy of this reverse migration – from Brazil to West Africa – telling stories of Brazilian families divided by the Atlantic.
I was inspired to tell this story after meeting a ‘returnee’ in Lagos’ Brazilian Quarter while curating films for the Nollywood screening project. That encounter opened a broader investigation into this lesser-known historical phenomenon and the current Brazilian cultural influence in West Africa. My children were travel companions during the African shoots.
I co-directed the series with Simplicio Neto, and co-produced it through my organization Praga Conexões alongside Jurubeba. The series aired on Brazilian channels (Canal Curta, TV Escola) and reached international audiences through RTP África.
Keywords: Afro-Brazilian, Diaspora, Migration
Documentary Shorts
Persia (2014, 2 x 15’)
Filmed guerrilla-style in Tehran, these two films explore how Iranian artists resist, create, and navigate censorship through movement, music, and visual art.
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Persia consists of two short documentaries which explores what it’s like to be an artist in the big city of Tehran amidst the Iranian theocratic regime. Each short showcases artists’ everyday lives, their creative processes, and their relationship with public space.
Iran Among Sounds and Movements offers an inside look to Tehran’s contemporary dance and music scene.
Sights of Tehran highlights visual artists and photographers and the intimate tensions between public expression and private resistance.
The political risks were real. One artist later asked to be removed from the online version out of fear of being associated with a scene of a woman dancing without a hijab.
These films were co-directed with Rafael Bacelar and originally commissioned by Canal Futura.
Keywords: Art & Resistance, Cultural Policy, Gender & Expression
Mini-Documentary
Fundição Progresso (2019, 5’)
A poetic portrait of one of Rio de Janeiro’s most vibrant cultural spaces, capturing the stories, memory, and energy of Fundição’s community.
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Originally planned as an institutional video, Fundição Progresso became a short documentary portrait of a cultural institution. Through conversations and images, the film explores the soul of Fundição: its people, its memory, and its power to transform. It reveals how education, music, and culture intertwine to shape a space of resistance, joy, and belonging.
Fundição is a huge artistic hub in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, which was also home to Praga Conexões for several years.
Keywords: Cultural Institutions, Documentary, Media
Written Works / Screenplays
Alongside documentary filmmaking, I’ve also contributed in the screenwriting sector. My storytelling practice expands into television, feature, and hybrid formats, always grounded in real-life experiences and with a sociopolitical approach.
Malhação (TV Globo): plot creation
Pôtio: script project
Faraó dos Bitcoins: plot creation