Biography

Moara Passoni is a writer-director named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" and winner of the Milena Jelinek Memorial Award for her MFA in Screenwriting and Directing at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Her short film "My Mother is a Cow" premiered at the Venice Film Festival, won Best Short at Bafici and Best Directing at the Cyprus International Short Film Festival, and screened at over 30 festivals worldwide.

"Extase", her first non-fiction feature film, premiered in the main competition of CPH:DOX 2020, which hallmarked Moara as "one of the great names of today". The film screened at MoMA Doc Fortnight 2021, Visions Du Réel 2020 among others, receiving fabulous critiques and winning several awards, including the Prix D'Innovation Daniel Langlois at Festival Du Cinema Nouveau, the Jury Award for best newcomers at the São Paulo International Film Festival and the Best Film Young Jury Award at Cinema Jove.

She served as a writer and producer for the Academy Award Nominee and Peabody winner "The Edge Of Democracy'', for which she was nominated for best narration/writing by The Critics' Choice Awards and the International Documentary Association.

Moara graduated in Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Sciences at the University of São Paulo, studied Dance & Performance at PUC/SP in addition to Philosophy & Aesthetics at Paris 8. After finishing a master's in Film & Documentary at Unicamp, she joined the MFA in Screenwriting-Directing at Columbia University.

Passoni works between Brazil and the U.S., and is developing a narrative TV series and her debut fiction feature.
- IMDb mini biography by: IRP

One of Filmmaker Magazine "25 New Faces", Moara Passoni is a writer-director born and raised in the fringes of São Paulo, Brazil, and now working between Brazil and the United States.

Passoni's multiple award-winning essay film Extase premiered in the main competition of CPH:DOX, and screened at MoMA'S Doc Fortnight as well as Visions du Réel. She co-wrote and produced Petra Costa's Oscar®-nominated and Peabody Award-winner The Edge of Democracy', for which she also received nominations from The Critics' Choice Awards and the International Documentary Association. Moara is currently developing her narrative TV series and is writing her debut narrative feature film with Christina Lazaridi.

Passoni is an alum of NYSCA,TorinoScriptLab and La Fémis-Cannes Producing Atelier. During her MFA in Screenwriting-Directing at Columbia University, she received the Milena Jelinek Memorial Award. Passoni also has a Master's in Documentary Filmmaking from the University of Campinas and a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo. Passoni is a founding member of the BrazilianFilmmakerCollective.
- IMDb mini biography by: KM

Moara Passoni is an awarded writer-director born and raised in the fringes of São Paulo, Brazil, and working between Brazil and the U.S.

Moara was one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Filmmaking"; by Filmmaker Magazine. She's an alumna of NYSCA, TorinoScriptLab, and La Fémis-Cannes Producing Atelier.

Her essay film Extase premiered in the main competition of CPH: DOX, and screened at MoMA's Doc Fortnight and Visions du Réel, winning numerous awards around the globe. She is co-writer of the Academy Award-nominated The Edge of Democracy for which she was nominated for best narration at Documentary Critic Choice Awards and IDA.

Her fiction short film "My Mother is a Cow" premiered at the Venice Int Film Festival and AFI Int Film Festival.

During her MFA in Screenwriting-Directing at Columbia University, Moara received the Milena Jelinek Memorial Award. She also has a Master's in Documentary Filmmaking from the University of Campinas and a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo. She studied Aesthetics at the University of Paris 8 and Dance and Performance at the Catholic University of São Paulo.

She's a founding member of the BrazilianFilmmakerCollective.
- IMDb mini biography by: PG

Moara Passoni is a writer-director, named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" and winner of the Milena Jelinek Memorial Award for her MFA in Screenwriting and Directing at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Her short film My Mother is a Cow premiered at the Venice Film Festival, won Best Short at Bafici, the Grand Prix at Mecal Pro-Barcelona International Film Festival, an Honorable Mention from the Catalonia Critics' Association at the same festival, Best Screenplay at the Huesca International Film Festival, a Special Mention at In The Palace, and Best Directing at the Cyprus International Short Film Festival. The film has screened at nearly 60 festivals in more than 40 countries.

Êxtase, her first non-fiction feature, premiered in the main competition of CPH:DOX, where she was hailed as "one of the great names of today." The film screened at MoMA Doc Fortnight, Visions du Réel, among many others, receiving outstanding reviews and winning several awards, including the Prix d'Innovation Daniel Langlois at Festival du Cinéma Nouveau, the Jury Award for Best Newcomer at the São Paulo International Film Festival, and the Young Jury Award for Best Film at Cinema Jove.

She was a writer and associate producer of the Academy Award-nominated and Peabody-winning The Edge of Democracy, for which she was nominated for Best Narration/Writing by both the Critics' Choice Awards and the International Documentary Association.

Moara graduated in Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science at the University of São Paulo, studied Dance & Performance at PUC-SP, and Philosophy & Aesthetics at Paris 8. After completing a master's in Film & Documentary at Unicamp, she earned her MFA in Screenwriting and Directing at Columbia University. She is also an alumna of Torino Script Lab, Nysca, Gotham Week, Cine Qua Non Lab, Projeto Paradiso, and La Fémis-Cannes Atelier de Production, among others.

Passoni works between Brazil and the U.S. and is developing a narrative TV series and her debut fiction feature.
- IMDb mini biography by: MP