Maria Clara is a diretor, screenwriter, casting director, and a poet.
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 Rio Festival, the São Paulo Film Festival, Janela Internacional, the Havana Film Festival, and is now heading to the Rotterdam 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 performance, as well as the awards for best editing and best actress at the For Rainbow Festival, and 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.
In January 2026, Maria Clara is preparing to release 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.
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. The film is currently available on digital platforms.
In addition to feature films, Maria Clara has written and directed four short films, “Domingo,” selected for the school cycle of the San Sebastián Film Festival (2004), “Passeio de Família” (2010), “Onde Habito” (2021), and “Marla não tem mais imagem,” awarded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal, and now in post production.
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, and Bruno Risas’ feature film Ontem Havia Coisas Estranhas no Céu, which won an award at the Cinema du Réel Festival and is currently available on Netflix..
Maria Clara was also screenwriter and assistant director of Julia Murat’s feature film “Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas” (Found Memories), which won over 30 awards (including best screenplay at FIFALE 2012 – Rabat, Morocco), was screened at over 40 international festivals, and released in five countries.
She was a screenplay collaborator on the films “A vida de Cada um”, by Murillo Salles, which premiered at the Rio Festival in 2025; “Antes que o mundo acabe” by Anna Luiza Azevedo (2009); She was also a script and editing consultant for the films Meu Nome é Daniel (My Name is Daniel) by Daniel Gonçalves, Fabiana by Brunna Laboisiére, and Pendular by Julia Murat (Fipresci Award at the Berlin Film Festival).
In 2026, she collaborated on the screenplay by Ecuadorian Ana Cristina Barragán, whose latest film, Hiedra, was screened and won a best screenplay prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Clara is also a casting director, 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 published three books of poetry: “Medo, Medo, Medo” (Fear, Fear, Fear) (2019, Nosotros editorial), “Um Novo Mar Dentro de Mim” (A New Sea Inside Me) (2021, Quelônio), and “Zonas de Guerra” (War Zones) (2022, Nosotros editorial).