Director: Petra Costa

foto regista
Birthday: 1983-07-08
Born in: Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Biography: Petra Costa is a Brazilian filmmaker and actress. She first directed the short film Undertow Eyes (2009) which screened at the MoMA and was winner of best short film at Rio Film Festival, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, London International Documentary Festival among others. She then directed the feature Elena (2012) which premiered at IDFA, followed by SXSW and HotDocs. Elena won many prizes such as best film at Havana Film Festival (2013), was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 2014 Cinema Eye Honors and was the most watched documentary in Brazil in 2013. In 2013 Petra was one of the 20 recipients of a grant given by CPH:DOX in Denmark. From this grant Petra and her Danish co-director Lea Glob developed a feature film, currently in postproduction, with the working title Olmo and the Seagull. The film is being produced by Zentropa, Som & Furia and Busca Vida Filmes. Petra completed her undergraduate studies Summa Cum Laude in Anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York. She did her Masters in Health, Community and Development at the London School of Economics, London. She has lived in Brazil for most of her life.

Known for

The Edge of Democracy

A cautionary tale for these times of democracy in crisis—the personal and political fuse to explore one of the most dramatic periods in Brazilian history. With unprecedented access to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, we witness their rise and fall and the tragically polarized nation that remains.
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7.7
The+Edge+of+Democracy
The Edge of Democracy

2019

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Beba

A raw, poetic self-portrait in which young, NYC-born Afro-Latina Rebeca “Beba” Huntt stares down historical, societal, and generational trauma.
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6.5
Beba
Elena

Petra heads to New York in search of her older sister after a long time of being separated. They are both movie actresses and heirs of the wounds of the Brazilian dictatorship. But Petra has only a few clues: home movies, newspaper clippings, a diary...
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7.3
Elena
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last wish: to be the protagonist of his own death.
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7.0
Babenco%3A+Tell+Me+When+I+Die
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

2020

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Olmo and the Seagull

'Olmo and the Seagull' is a poetic and existential dive into an actress's mind during the nine months of her pregnancy as she must confront her most fiery inner demons while trying to rewrite a new philosophy of life, identity and love. Underlying this hybrid film is mounting tension over what is real and what is enacted when one is performing one's own life.
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7.2
Olmo+and+the+Seagull
Olmo and the Seagull

2015

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Ecstasy

Racked with anxiety in the chaotic political landscape of 1990s Brazil, Clara finds solace in starving herself, experiencing both rapture and torture. In this elliptical non-fiction film, anorexia becomes a way for Clara to challenge womanhood and find a place in an uncertain, surreal, and brutal world.
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7.0
Ecstasy