Petra Costa

Directing

Petra Costa

Born

1983-07-08 (43)

Place of birth

Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Known for

Directing

Credits

20 titles

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 D…

Known for

Apocalypse in the Tropics poster
7.3

Through deep examination, this documentary from Oscar nominee Petra Costa explores the profound impact of evangelism on Brazil's political landscape.

Apocalypse in the Tropics

2025

Nobody's Watching poster
6.0

Nico is a famous actor in Argentina, but in New York, nobody takes notice. He needs to juggle bartending, babysitting and odd jobs to keep himself afloat. But when old friends from Buenos Aires come to visit, he needs to juggle the image of his old life with the reality of the struggling actor in New York City.

Nobody's Watching

2017

The Edge of Democracy poster
7.7

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.

The Edge of Democracy

2019

Olmo and the Seagull poster
7.2

'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.

Olmo and the Seagull

2015

Elena poster
7.3

A Brazilian actress travels to New York in search of her long-lost sister, piecing together fragments of the past while confronting the lasting scars of the Brazilian dictatorship.

Elena

2013

The Edge of Theocracy poster
7.5

Jesus life and work goes through rumors, conspiracies, injuries, friendship and fanaticism. An emblematic figure of the 1st century, Jesus was a charismatic leader, but he faced many trials.

The Edge of Theocracy

2020

Film credits

Behind the camera

Apocalypse in the Tropics poster
7.3

Through deep examination, this documentary from Oscar nominee Petra Costa explores the profound impact of evangelism on Brazil's political landscape.

Apocalypse in the Tropics

2025

Apocalypse in the Tropics poster
7.3

Through deep examination, this documentary from Oscar nominee Petra Costa explores the profound impact of evangelism on Brazil's political landscape.

Apocalypse in the Tropics

2025

Apocalypse in the Tropics poster
7.3

Through deep examination, this documentary from Oscar nominee Petra Costa explores the profound impact of evangelism on Brazil's political landscape.

Apocalypse in the Tropics

2025

The Edge of Democracy poster
7.7

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.

The Edge of Democracy

2019

The Edge of Democracy poster
7.7

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.

The Edge of Democracy

2019

The Edge of Democracy poster
7.7

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.

The Edge of Democracy

2019

Olmo and the Seagull poster
7.2

'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.

Olmo and the Seagull

2015

Olmo and the Seagull poster
7.2

'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.

Olmo and the Seagull

2015

Elena poster
7.3

A Brazilian actress travels to New York in search of her long-lost sister, piecing together fragments of the past while confronting the lasting scars of the Brazilian dictatorship.

Elena

2013

Elena poster
7.3

A Brazilian actress travels to New York in search of her long-lost sister, piecing together fragments of the past while confronting the lasting scars of the Brazilian dictatorship.

Elena

2013

Ecstasy poster
6.7

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.

Ecstasy

2020

Undertow Eyes poster
6.7

Vera and Gabriel, an elderly couple, navigate through past and present, telling their own life story. Their remembering, rendered in images from family archives that confound themselves with images of the present, suggests a personal diary on love and death.

Undertow Eyes

2011

Undertow Eyes poster
6.7

Vera and Gabriel, an elderly couple, navigate through past and present, telling their own life story. Their remembering, rendered in images from family archives that confound themselves with images of the present, suggests a personal diary on love and death.

Undertow Eyes

2011

Undertow Eyes poster
6.7

Vera and Gabriel, an elderly couple, navigate through past and present, telling their own life story. Their remembering, rendered in images from family archives that confound themselves with images of the present, suggests a personal diary on love and death.

Undertow Eyes

2011