Petra Costa

Petra Costa is a Brazilian filmmaker and actress. She directed her first short film, *Undertow Eyes* (2009), which screened at the MoMA and won Best Short Film at the Rio Film Festival, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, and the London International Documentary Festival, among others. She later directed the feature *Elena* (2012), which premiered at IDFA and was also screened at SXSW and HotDocs. *Elena* won Best Film at the Havana Film Festival in 2013, was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 2014 Cinema Eye Honors, and was the most-watched documentary in Brazil in 2013. In 2013, Petra was one of 20 recipients of a grant from CPH:DOX in Denmark. Using this grant, she and her Danish co-director Lea Glob developed a feature film, currently in postproduction, with the working title *Olmo and the Seagull*. The film is being produced by Zentropa, Som & Furia, and Busca Vida Filmes. Petra completed her undergraduate studies *Summa Cum Laude* in Anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University, in New York. She later earned a Master’s degree in Health, Community and Development at the London School of Economics in London. She has lived in Brazil for most of her life.