Petra Costa

Petra Costa

  • Birthday: 1983-07-08
  • Place of birth: 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.

Filmography

Elena

2013

As Self

Life in Gray

2017

As Herself

Nobody's Watching

2017

As Petra

The Edge of Theocracy

2020

As Petra Costa

Production

Undertow Eyes

2011

As Cinematography

Elena

2013

As Director

Olmo and the Seagull

2015

As Director

Undertow Eyes

2011

As Director

The Edge of Democracy

2019

As Director

Secrets of the Tribe

2010

As Assistant Editor

Undertow Eyes

2011

As Editor

Undertow Eyes

2011

As Producer

The Edge of Democracy

2019

As Producer

Ecstasy

2020

As Producer

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

2020

As Associate Producer

Beba

2022

As Executive Producer

Elena

2013

As Writer

Undertow Eyes

2011

As Writer

Olmo and the Seagull

2015

As Writer

The Edge of Democracy

2019

As Writer

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