Photo: Monika Davies
BIO
I am a Brazilian filmmaker based in Scotland, specialising in both documentary and scripted formats, with a focus on directing and editing. As a Berlinale Talents alumna, my work has been featured at international festivals, including Aspen Shortfest, Edinburgh, Tiradentes, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. My latest short film, Headland (2024), commissioned by the Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap programme, won the Best Mini-Doc Award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. I also directed Newcomers (2013), which premiered at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, and spent over seven years as an editor at TV Globo.
I hold an MA in Film Editing from Screen Academy Scotland, completed through the Kino Eyes Erasmus Joint Master’s Programme, and I am currently in the final year of a PhD in Film Practice at Edinburgh College of Art. My doctoral research examines the representation of borders and forced displacement in contemporary cinema, with a particular focus on creative non-fiction. I am also interested in intercultural and postcolonial cinema, feminist film theory, and the intersection of migration, ecology and film. My recent publication, ‘A Camera in the Water: Reframing the Migrant Image in Documentary Film’, appeared in Screen journal.
SELECTED FILM AND TV PROJECTS
Headland (Director), 2024, UK, Documentary (Creative), 13min.
Thread (Editor), UK/Brazil, In Post-Production, Documentary (Creative), Approx. 85min.
Three Graces/Três Graças (Editor), 2021, Brazil, Drama, 20min.
Faux Detective (Editor), 2019, Estonia, Drama, 6min.
In-house Editor, Promo & Trailer Department, Globo TV, (2014–2018), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Books Hostel/Albergue Carioca (Editor), 2014, Brazil, Doc-Reality Television/Discovery TLC, 16 Episodes x 45min
Newcomers (Director), 2013, Belgium, Documentary, 15min.
Sparkling Girls (Editor), 2012, Brazil, Television, Globo Studios, 10 Episodes x 45min.
The Life We Lead (Assistant Editor), 2011, Brazil, Television, Globo Studios, 18 Episodes x 45min.
PUBLICATIONS
Duarte, Mariana. A Camera in the Water: Reframing the Migrant Image in Documentary Film, Screen, Volume 65, Issue 2, Summer 2024, Pages 212–232. Read here.
TEACHING
Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh — Design & Screen Cultures 4: Dissertation Supervision, 2023, 2024, 2025.
Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh: Contemporary Cinema, Tutor and Guest Lecturer, 2023, 2024, 2025.
Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh: Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (Creative Industries), 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
Universidade Lusófona, Centro Universitário de Lisboa: Assistant Lecturer in Film Editing, 2021.
EDUCATION
PhD Film Practice (part-time), 2021–Present. Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. Funded by the ECA PhD Scholarship.
MA Film (Kino Eyes Erasmus Masters), 2018–2020. Screen Academy Scotland (UK), Baltic Film School (Estonia), Lusófona University (Portugal). Funded by the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Scholarship.
BA History, 2001-2006. Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), Brazil.
LANGUAGES
Portuguese (Native), English (Fluent), and Italian (Intermediate).