Maria Clara Escobar

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 fourepisode series that tells the story of a transgender womans 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 DocLisboa The film was screened at the Laceno Doro 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 featurelength documentary Os dias com ele The Days with Him The film won the award for best film at DocLisboa 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 Ferreiras new film Serra das Almas which won the Netflix award at the Rio Festival in 2024 was screenwriter and assistant director of Julia Murats 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 Ferreiras Serra das Almas Matias Marianis Cidade Pássaro Julia Murats Pendular Marcelo Gomes Joaquim Caetano Gotardos 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 ZhangKe Maria Clara has three published books Medo Medo Medo 2019 Um Novo Mar Dentro de Mim 2020 and Zonas de Guerra 2021