Biography

Aldemar Matias (Manaus, 1985) is a Brazilian filmmaker and cinematographer. He studied Social Communication at the Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Brazil; Documentary Directing at Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (EICTV) in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba; and holds a Master’s degree in Creative Documentary from Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. Parente (2011), his documentary about HIV tests performed at Yanomami villages in the Amazon, was financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and acquired by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. When I Get Home (2013) received the awards for Film of the Year and Best Documentary at the Watersprite Festival in Cambridge. The Enemy (2015) was awarded at both the San Sebastian International Film Festival and DocumentaMadrid. His short films have also been screened in festivals, such as Visions du Réel in Switzerland, DokLeipzig in Germany, Doc Buenos Aires in Argentina, True/False in the US, Filmer à Tout Prix in Belgium, as well as at Biarritz Amérique Latine and Recontres de Toulouse in France, among others. In 2019, he directed Pa’lante, a five-episode TV series shot in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador about young dancers who challenge the conservatism of their communities with dance. Also in 2019, he premiered his first feature film On The Starting Line at the 69th Berlinale, at the Panorama section. He also coordinated the North Region Office dedicated to the funding of independent film production for Brazilian public television, as well as trained directors and producers in writing fiction, documentary and animation projects.