
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
7.3Through 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
6.0Nico 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
7.7A 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
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
7.3A 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
7.5Jesus 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
2020s · 2 titles
7.3Through 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
7.5Jesus 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
2010s · 4 titles
6.0Nico 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
7.7A 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
7.3A 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
7.0A faux documentary about the ongoing social, political and economical crisis in Brazil, where the government cuts the colors of Rio de Janeiro, turning the city black and white.
Life in Gray
2017
Behind the camera
7.3Through 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
7.3Through 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
7.3Through 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
7.7A 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
7.7A 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
7.7A 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
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
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
7.3A 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
7.3A 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
6.7Racked 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
6.7Vera 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
6.7Vera 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
6.7Vera 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
