Maria Clara Escobar

Directing

Maria Clara Escobar

Born 1988-07-04 · Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Maria Clara is a diretor, screenwriter, casting director, and a poet. In January 2026, Maria Clara released the tv series “Paloma” (Canal Brasil, Globoplay), which she wrote and directed. A four-episode series that tells the story of a transgender woman's struggle to gain custody of her biological daughter. In 2025, she premiered her second feature film, Dolores, written and directed alongside Marcelo Gomes, at Horizontes Latinos in San Sebastián. The film was also screened at the Rotterdam film festiva, Rio Festival, São Paulo Film Festival, Janela Internacional and Havana Film Festival. Also in 2025, Maria Clara won the award for best director at the Olhar de Cinema festival in Brazil for her hybrid film “Explode São Paulo, Gil,” which she wrote and directed. The film also won the award for best film and SPA honorable mention at Doc.Lisboa. The film was screened at the Laceno D'oro festival and the São Paulo International Film Festival. Maria Clara wrote and directed the feature film “Desterro,” which premiered in January 2020 as part of the Tiger Competition at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. The film was also screened at festivals such as Viennale, Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Taipei Film Festival, among others. It was released in Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Iceland, and Greece, won the Netflix Portugal award for Portuguese female directors, and was licensed to Netflix worldwide. In December 2022, it was named by the NY Times as one of six films to watch. Maria Clara also wrote and directed the feature-length documentary “Os dias com ele” (The Days with Him). The film won the award for best film at Doc.Lisboa in 2013, in the national competition. It won awards at the Havana and IBAFF (Spain) festivals. In Brazil, it won awards at the 16th Tiradentes Film Festival (youth jury, official jury, and Itamaraty Award) and at the IV CachoeiraDOC (youth jury and official jury). In 2014, the film premiered in theaters and on DVD by the Moreira Salles Institute. In addition to feature films, Maria Clara has written and directed three short films, “Domingo,” selected for the school cycle of the San Sebastián Film Festival (2004), “Passeio de Família” (2010) and “Onde Habito” (2021). As a screenwriter, Maria Clara wrote Lírio Ferreira's new film, “Serra das Almas,” which won the Netflix award at the Rio Festival in 2024; was screenwriter and assistant director of Julia Murat's feature film “Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas” (Found Memories; and wrote Bruno Risas' feature film "Ontem Havia Coisas Estranhas no Céu" currently available on Netflix. Maria Clara is also a casting director and casting coach, having worked on Marcelo Gomes' “Paloma,” Lírio Ferreira's “Serra das Almas,” Matias Mariani's “Cidade Pássaro,” Julia Murat's “Pendular,” Marcelo Gomes' “Joaquim,” Caetano Gotardo's “O Que se Move,” the series O Nó do Diabo by Ramon Porto Mota, Gabriel Martins, Ian Abé, and Jhésus Triuzi, and the short film A Terra Treme by Walter Salles, which is part of the feature film "Where Has the Time Gone?" organized by Jia Zhang-Ke. Maria Clara has three published books: "Medo Medo Medo" (2019), Um Novo Mar Dentro de Mim (2020) and Zonas de Guerra (2021).

Acting credits

Behind the camera

No artwork available
NR

In 1974 rural Brazil under military dictatorship, the fragile balance of Jorge and Mariângela's relationship faces expropriation of their land for the construction of a hydroelectric dam, is further shaken by the unexpected intimacy between Mariângela and Jorge’s sister.

Mesopotamia

Soul's Peak poster
4.2

In Pernambuco, a jewel robbery brings together an old group of misfits, with catastrophic results. Watched over by ghosts from the past, each of them will have to find their own way to freedom.

Soul's Peak

2025

Abandonment poster
4.8

The couple Laura and Israël have a five-year-old son, Lucas. They live together but seem to have lost interest in one another's thoughts and cares. Their relationship seems headed for the rocks, and the only one who seems to still be looking for something from life is Lucas.

Abandonment

2021

Abandonment poster
4.8

The couple Laura and Israël have a five-year-old son, Lucas. They live together but seem to have lost interest in one another's thoughts and cares. Their relationship seems headed for the rocks, and the only one who seems to still be looking for something from life is Lucas.

Abandonment

2021

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Onde Habito

2020

Yesterday There Were Strange Things in the Sky poster
7.5

The daily life of a family in which countless factors are disturbing: the father is unemployed, the members need to move house, the mother is abducted, and life continues as if nothing had happened.

Yesterday There Were Strange Things in the Sky

2020

Gil, Let's Explode São Paulo poster
NR

From the encounter between Maria Clara, the filmmaker, and Gil, the character, not only cities but entire cinematic possibilities explode. Dreams and desires collide with the harshness of reality, giving form – through art – to the dilemmas of collective human existence. As in her acclaimed debut feature, “Os Dias Com Ele,” Maria Clara Escobar starts from her immediate surroundings and amplifies the scope of her camera, this time telling a story of women and the passage of time in a country that offers little mercy to either.

Gil, Let's Explode São Paulo

2025

The Days with Him poster
7.0

The discoveries and frustrations on accessing a memory of a father and of a time in the Brazilian history that are rarely public. The young filmmaker plunges into this unknown past of her almost unknown father. He, a Brazilian intellectual, imprisoned and tortured during the military dictatorship, is silent about this since that time. A father and a fatherland that does not like to answer any questions, that loves but rarely talks.

The Days with Him

2014

Found Memories poster
7.5

Each citizen of Jotuomba plays an integral role in village life. Madalena is responsible for baking bread; each morning she stacks her rolls as Antonio prepares the coffee. The two share a morning ritual of arguments and insults, followed by an amicable cup of coffee on the bench outside Antonio's shop. At midday the church bells ring, summoning the villagers to mass. In the early evening, they all share a meal together. And so life proceeds in Jotuomba, the days languidly drifting into one another; the only variations seem to be in the weather. But, one day Rita arrives looking for a place to stay.

Found Memories

2012

Dolores poster
NR

On the eve of her 65th birthday, Dolores has a premonition: her life is about to change. She will own a successful casino. However, her gambling addiction of the past may work against her. Deborah, her only daughter, waits for her boyfriend's release from prison to start a new life, whilst her granddaughter Duda clings to a chance of working in the United States. All three women will strive to make their dreams of a better life a reality, going for it all or nothing.

Dolores

2026

Dolores poster
NR

On the eve of her 65th birthday, Dolores has a premonition: her life is about to change. She will own a successful casino. However, her gambling addiction of the past may work against her. Deborah, her only daughter, waits for her boyfriend's release from prison to start a new life, whilst her granddaughter Duda clings to a chance of working in the United States. All three women will strive to make their dreams of a better life a reality, going for it all or nothing.

Dolores

2026