Alumna Moara Passoni '21 Co-Founds Brazilian Filmmakers Collective

By
Felix van Kann
March 16, 2022

The Brazilian Filmmakers Collective, co-founded by alumna Moara Passoni '21, launched formally at the Berlin Film Festival's European Film Market on February 16. The collective was created last year as a hub for Brazilian filmmakers working abroad to share resources, opportunities and promote creative enrichment. Alumnus, Head of the Directing Concentration and Professor of Professional Practice Ramin Bahrani '96 (CC) is on the collective's creative advisory board. Passoni is one of nine inaugural members of the group. 

According to Deadline, “The group’s directorial work has premiered at film festivals around the world including Toronto, Venice, Sundance, SXSW, New York and more. Members are at similar stages in their careers: they have each premiered their first or second feature films at A-list festivals or are working on their first feature projects with the support of competitive A-list fellowships such as the Torino Screenwriting Lab, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Sundance Labs, Tribeca Institute Fellowships, SFFILM Residencies, Hola Mexico, and more.” 

"My hope is that we can continue to grow the collective to include more Brazilian filmmakers living and working abroad who share our passion and commitment to collaboration over competition,” Passoni comments. “And that we can build an enriching bridge between the Brazilian and international cinema industry. Right now, our members are based in North America, but we've been discussing expanding to Europe and beyond." 

Passoni is a New York City based filmmaker. She co-wrote and associate-produced The Edge of Democracy (2019). In addition to the Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, the film was nominated for best narration and writing by The Critics' Choice Awards and the International Documentary Association. For much of her adolescence, Passoni was anorexic, an experience she bracingly evokes in her hypnotic and unsettling debut feature, Ecstasy (Êxtase), which premiered at CPH:DOX. The film is inspired by the director’s own diaries and interviews with other anorexics to capture the lived experience of anorexia, its social underpinnings and its use as an object of theory. Ecstasy (Êxtase) screened at the Museum of Modern Art's Doc Fortnight Festival in 2021. Passoni’s work in development includes Cost of Living, a 1960s-set hybrid neorealist film telling a true story of political revolt and the fight for worker’s rights; Corinthians Democracy, a limited series set around a rivalry in the world of Brazilian soccer; and her first full dramatic feature, based on the true story of a New England woman whose life encompassed theater, mental illness and, finally, death by COVID-19.