Paula Gaitán

Directing

Paula Gaitán

Born 1954-11-18 · Paris, France

Paula Gaitán is a french-colombian filmmaker, based in Brazil. She was married to the film-maker Glauber Rocha and made her debut as art director of the film The Age of the Earth (1980), a success at the Venice Film Festival. She currently directs experimental and monumental films.

Acting credits

No artwork available
9.5

A couple of filmmakers facing difficulties to make a film in the midst of an economic crisis, affecting the relationship between them.

Amenic - Entre o Discurso e a Prática

1984

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Mais Luz

1986

Girl Meets Boy poster
8.0

After Lucía and Jorge break up, she starts dating a friend, and he starts dating an old crush. But will they find their happy ending?

Girl Meets Boy

2025

Dogs’ Street Opera poster
NR

Author Paula Gaitán's journey through the streets of São Paulo recording her songs and sound inventions as she walks.

Dogs’ Street Opera

2020

Memória da memória poster
5.0

Reviewing home videos, filmmaker Paula Gaitán constructs a curious narrative about her youth while talking to her children. A filmic note in the form of an essay based on material made in Super 8. "Of which there are no limits, and full of affection and imagination", says the author.

Memória da memória

2013

Instead of Trees poster
NR

A film critic with philosophical interests, played by the film critic Roger Koza, wonders about the nature of Nature. And he obsessively tries to capture it with his phone camera. Other experts—filmmakers from different countries, art historians, a scenographer in charge of a natural science museum, and members of the human species from a distant future—think about ways of representating nature. A kaleidoscopic, playful collage, sometimes fiction, sometimes documentary, the film cannot help but wonder about the nature of cinema itself.

Instead of Trees

2026

Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth poster
6.3

Documentary about Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha, one of the most important names in the Cinema Novo, with interviews with some of his friends and colleagues.

Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth

2003

No Tempo de Glauber poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

No Tempo de Glauber

1987

Torquato, Imagem da Incompletude poster
NR

A reflection on the works and thinking of the last years of production by Torquato. Such as the magazine "Navilouca", the film "Terror da Vermelha", the column "Geleia Geral" and the controversial Cinema Novo X Marginal, among other passages important aspects of Brazilian culture in the 60s and 70s.

Torquato, Imagem da Incompletude

2020

O Canto das Amapolas poster
NR

Intimate conversations between a daughter and her mother. Through these off-screen dialogues, the film explores themes of family history, the Holocaust, and Judaism, blending personal memory with historical reflection.

O Canto das Amapolas

2023

No artwork available
5.0

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Glauber Rocha's 1980 production "A Idade da Terra" (The Age of Earth), including unedited clips taken from the sixty hours of recovered raw footage.

Anabazys: O Terceiro Testamento de Glauber Rocha

2007

Abertura poster
6.0

One of the most daring and radical shows presented in Brazilian television: "Abertura". It was broadcast between February and October, 1979, with weekly editions, presented by Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha. The video is a compilation of characters, statements, and interviews about the political and cultural situation of the country during the final stages of the Military Dictatorship.

Abertura

1979

Calidris poster
NR

New York City attracts Jane and Carlos, like so many others, with the promise of a better life. That's why they've left their home country, Brazil. Yet as immigrants, they don't have all the opportunities that the American dream implies. Their search for a new and better life represents that of all the immigrants who dare to attempt a fresh start in another country. It is also the story of changes taking place in United States and Brazil. The fictional story about Jane and Carlos in this experimental film is intertwined with the personal experiences of the film team, which reports in interspersed episodes about their own immigration and that of others they've researched.

Calidris

2019

Steps poster
NR

An experimental, visual poem that registers life and the architecture of Sintra (Portugal), captured by Paula Gaitán and featuring glimpses into her own photography art, rural/urban contrast, and memories with Glauber Rocha and family. Accompanied by the soundwork and music of L. Borgia Rossetti.

Steps

2021

Days in Sintra poster
NR

Using home movies and other media, a filmmaker returns to Sintra, Portugal to search for memories of her late husband, Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha.

Days in Sintra

2008

Behind the camera

Agreste poster
6.0

Drylands could be anywhere, just as Marcélia Cartaxo could be many women (including herself). The actress is placed in a situation in which she encounters nature and other female figures, in some instances, her doubles. Out of these encounters spring other possibilities that operate in the world of representation, which, in the film originate from the same imaginary power as children's games in empty lots.

Agreste

2010

Agreste poster
6.0

Drylands could be anywhere, just as Marcélia Cartaxo could be many women (including herself). The actress is placed in a situation in which she encounters nature and other female figures, in some instances, her doubles. Out of these encounters spring other possibilities that operate in the world of representation, which, in the film originate from the same imaginary power as children's games in empty lots.

Agreste

2010

Elza Soares: A Mulher do Fim do Mundo poster
NR

Music about becoming women in the contemporary world, their emancipation and struggles

Elza Soares: A Mulher do Fim do Mundo

2017

Elza Soares: A Mulher do Fim do Mundo poster
NR

Music about becoming women in the contemporary world, their emancipation and struggles

Elza Soares: A Mulher do Fim do Mundo

2017

Ostinato poster
5.0

A documentary about the creative process of Arrigo Barnabé

Ostinato

2021

Ostinato poster
5.0

A documentary about the creative process of Arrigo Barnabé

Ostinato

2021

Night poster
6.0

During one night, a woman walks through Rio de Janeiro, and hears the music around: jazz, rock, eletronica...

Night

2014

Life poster
NR

A documentary about actress brazilian Maria Gladys, a strong presence in films by Júlio Bressane, Rogério Sganzerla among others.

Life

2008

Life poster
NR

A documentary about actress brazilian Maria Gladys, a strong presence in films by Júlio Bressane, Rogério Sganzerla among others.

Life

2008

Uaka poster
NR

In Xingu, the Quarup - a great festive event in which men steal the divine fire, spreading it over the earth - is celebrated every year in the Kamaiurá village. Nine tribes take part in the ritual to the sound of uruá flutes, where the pajés (shamans) Tucuma, Sapaim and Prepori, among others, are present.

Uaka

1988

Uaka poster
NR

In Xingu, the Quarup - a great festive event in which men steal the divine fire, spreading it over the earth - is celebrated every year in the Kamaiurá village. Nine tribes take part in the ritual to the sound of uruá flutes, where the pajés (shamans) Tucuma, Sapaim and Prepori, among others, are present.

Uaka

1988

Light in the Tropics poster
4.8

A film like a monument: Luz nos Trópicos is a tribute to the rich greens of the Amazon and the forests of New England in winter, celebrating the indigenous peoples of continental America and flowing as a film as freely as a winding river.

Light in the Tropics

2020

Light in the Tropics poster
4.8

A film like a monument: Luz nos Trópicos is a tribute to the rich greens of the Amazon and the forests of New England in winter, celebrating the indigenous peoples of continental America and flowing as a film as freely as a winding river.

Light in the Tropics

2020

The Path is Made by Walking poster
NR

A man's journey through time or infinite space.

The Path is Made by Walking

2021

Kogi poster
NR

For the KOGI Indians, there is a great mirror that divides two worlds, the perceptual and the sensory. The abstract world of meanings is not what we sensorially perceive, but the world of what the KOGI call "aluna." This world is what gives meaning to the destiny of life.

Kogi

2009

Dogs’ Street Opera poster
NR

Author Paula Gaitán's journey through the streets of São Paulo recording her songs and sound inventions as she walks.

Dogs’ Street Opera

2020

Memória da memória poster
5.0

Reviewing home videos, filmmaker Paula Gaitán constructs a curious narrative about her youth while talking to her children. A filmic note in the form of an essay based on material made in Super 8. "Of which there are no limits, and full of affection and imagination", says the author.

Memória da memória

2013

Memória da memória poster
5.0

Reviewing home videos, filmmaker Paula Gaitán constructs a curious narrative about her youth while talking to her children. A filmic note in the form of an essay based on material made in Super 8. "Of which there are no limits, and full of affection and imagination", says the author.

Memória da memória

2013

Lygiapape poster
NR

A film about the work of plastic artist Lygia Pape. Parting from Lygia Pape's installations to recreate her visual and sound universe.

Lygiapape

1991

Riverock poster
4.5

A meeting with music, composer, poet and sociologist Negro Léo. He gives his thoughts on the development of music, Brazilian and international politics, the rise of neo-pentecostal evangelical churches and obsession over social media, in parallel with his own life story.

Riverock

2020

Riverock poster
4.5

A meeting with music, composer, poet and sociologist Negro Léo. He gives his thoughts on the development of music, Brazilian and international politics, the rise of neo-pentecostal evangelical churches and obsession over social media, in parallel with his own life story.

Riverock

2020

30th anniversaire of FIDMarseille poster
NR

For the 30th anniversaire of FIDMarseille about thirty directors have done us the honor of offering us some very beautiful short films.

30th anniversaire of FIDMarseille

2019

The Volcano Exiles poster
4.4

She menage to save from a fire a bunch of pictures and a diary written by hand. Those words and faces becomes the last traces left from the man she one day knew and loved. Crossing mountains and roads, she tries to remake his steps. The places she vists bring people, gestures, memories and histories that slowly become part of her life.

The Volcano Exiles

2013

Da Fome ao Sonho poster
NR

Filmmaker Paula Gaitán and Richard Peña, a professor at Columbia University and former director of film programming at Lincoln Center, delve into the manifestos of Glauber Rocha, revisiting the Aesthetics of Hunger and the Aesthetics of Dreams to reflect on the revolutionary power of cinema.

Da Fome ao Sonho

2026