Biography

Eliza Capai is an independent documentary filmmaker who focuses on social issues. She is especially interested in amplifying voices from marginalized sectors of society in order to foster empathy in audiences. Thinking about creative modes of production, narration, and distribution are also priorities in her work.

In a very productive and ascending moment of her career, Eliza premiered her most intimate documentary, "Incompatible with Life", at It's All True International Film Festival. The film was awarded Best Feature and qualified for the Oscar.

Capai also signs the direction of the first Netflix's Brazilian true crime series - "Elize Matsunaga: Once Upon a Crime" - in which she interviews for the first time the confessing defendant of one of the most famous crimes in Brazil. The series was released on the VOD platform in 190 countries simultaneously in July 2021.

Her previous work, the awarded documentary "Your Turn" (directed and scripted by Eliza Capai), is about the student takeover of schools in response to educational budget cuts in Brazil. It premiered at Berlinale (2019) and was awarded with the International Amnesty Prize and Peace Prize. Since that, the film was released in 100+ festivals and received 20+ awards.

Her second movie, "The Tortoise and the Tapir" (72', 2016 - directed and scripted by Eliza Capai), investigates the gigantic hydroelectric plants built and planned in the middle of the Amazon forest during Brazil's worst drought in decades.

Her first feature, Here Is So Far (71', 2013 - directed and scripted by Eliza Capai), is based on encounters with women during a seven-month trip in Africa. In its premiere at the Rio International Film Festival New Trends, the documentary was awarded Best Feature Film. It received multiple awards in Brazil and abroad.

Capai graduated from University of São Paulo with a degree in journalism and was a fellow at MIT Open Documentary Lab.
- IMDb mini biography by: Eliza Capai