Maria Clara Escobar

Maria Clara is a film and TV director, screenwriter, and poet.

She wrote and directed the fiction feature film “Desterro” (2020), which premiered in the Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film was also shown at festivals such as Viennale, Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Taipei Film Festival, among others. It was released in Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Iceland, and Greece, and won the Portuguese filmmakers’ award from Netflix Portugal. It was listed by the NY Times as one of the six films to watch on Netflix.

Maria Clara also wrote and directed the documentary feature film “Os dias com ele”, which won the Best Film award in the National Competition at Doc.Lisboa in 2013. It also won awards at the Havana Film Festival and IBAFF (Spain). In Brazil, it was awarded at the 16th Tiradentes Film Festival and at the IV CachoeiraDOC. In 2014, the film was released in cinemas and on DVD by the Moreira Salles Institute. It is currently available on digital platforms.

Adding to these feature films, Maria Clara wrote and directed four short films: “Domingo”, selected for the school cycle of the San Sebastián Festival (2004), “Passeio de Família” (2010), “Onde Habito” (2021), and “Marla não tem mais imagem”, awarded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and now in the process of being finalised.

In 2024, she co-wrote and co-directed with Marcelo Gomes the film “Dolores,” produced by Dezenove Sons e Imagens, and will direct the series PALOMA, produced by the production company Carnaval.

Maria Clara has three published poetry books: “Medo, Medo, Medo” (2019, Nosotros Editorial), “Um Novo Mar Dentro de Mim” (2021, Quelônio), and “Zonas de Guerra” (2022, Nosotros Editorial).

In addition to being a screenwriter and director, Maria Clara is also a casting director, having worked on “Paloma” by Marcelo Gomes, “Serra das Almas” by Lírio Ferreira, “Cidade Pássaro” by Matias Mariani, “Pendular” by Julia Murat, “Joaquim” by Marcelo Gomes, “O Que se Move” by Caetano Gotardo, 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.