Mariana Machado is a Brazilian filmmaker and researcher based in Brussels, currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Film Directing at Luca School of Arts. She graduated in Media Studies with an emphasis on Film Studies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (UFMG), having been awarded a scholarship to pursue part of her Bachelor’s at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), where she specialized in Film Directing. She has been working with independent productions since 2015, directing short films, video arts, music videos, and audiovisual campaigns. In addition, Mariana has also accumulated some years of experience as a film educator, film critic, screenwriter, performer, and photographer. 

 

She is currently working on the documentary short film “The Earth Eaters”, which portrays two of the most important indigenous leaders and intellectuals in Brazil, the shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomami and Ailton Krenak, and it is in the post-production stage. Besides, she is working on the fiction short film “CANDELA”, which will be recorded in Brussels and will have its premiere in May at BOZAR, Brussels. 

 

Concerning previous works, she was the director, cinematographer, and editor of the film “Ângelo”, which has been exhibited in several film festivals and has been released at the 9th Mostra Ecofalante de Cinema, one of the most prestigious film festivals in Latin America, where it received the 2nd place award in the Best Film by the Audience category. In 2020, she was awarded an Audiovisual Artist Prize for her film "I'll take just what's needed" by Itaú Cultural, an important Brazilian cultural institution. In the same year, she won the Aldir Blanc Law Award due to her feats as a director in her home state, Minas Gerais. Over the years, she has participated in artistic residencies, such as Buitenkunst (Netherlands) and American Arts Incubator (USA-embassy and Brazil); and in some exhibitions, such as in the Art Gallery Godarc (Brazil). 

 

Besides, she has further experience in other artistic fields. As a film critic, she composed the Jury Bench of the 20th Tiradentes Film Festival, one of the most important Film Festivals in Brazil.  And as film educator, in 2015, she took part in the group “MUTUM: education, pedagogy, and Cinema” (UFMG) as a researcher and film educator, teaching filmmaking to youngsters in vulnerable contexts. During her trajectory, Mariana also took part in some artistic collectives, like Cine Fronteira and Plataforma Doras. The first is a collective of filmmakers and film critics, and the second is a feminist art collective in which she was a performer along with other female artists. In 2021, she was one of the founders and coordinators of the artistic residency named SELVVA, in Brazil, where she lived and worked for 2 years along with other artists.