BRAZILIAN DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER, PRODUCER, AND EDITOR.

Born in Recife, Brazil, Stella spent her early school years in between Alagoas, in Northeastern Brazil, and Canada. After finishing her Bachelors in Film from FAAP/São Paulo on a scholarship, Stella got her first job in the industry working as a Dramaturgy Assistant for Gullane, one of Brazil’s biggest film production companies, located in São Paulo. Later, she would be hired by the same company as an Assistant Screenwriter for hit TV Series “Jailers”. In 2019, Stella was awarded a scholarship to study Screenwriting at Kino Eyes - The European Movie Masters, a joint program held in Portugal, Estonia, and the United Kingdom. 

Stella finished the masters with three shorts written by her. Leidsin, a crime thriller about two young siblings kidnapping a Russian Police Officer set in the 90s in Estonia; and Uibu Talu, a dysfunctional family drama. These films would have their premieres for two consecutive years in PÖFF - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2021 and 2022 respectively. Days Without, a family drama about postpartum psychosis spoken in Russian, would be selected and awarded in dozens of film festivals around the world, including Marseille, Odense in Denmark, and Cambridge. 

After finishing her studies, Stella began developing her first feature, Daughters of the Mangrove. This year, she finished an eight month Script Lab under mentorship of Murilo Hauser, writer of I’m Still Here and The Blue Trail. She pitched the film at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in 2025 through La Factory des Cinéastes, after having developed a treatment through the French-Brazilian Script Lab in Rio; being selected to 16th Cinemundi Connection market, where it won the main award; and to FEST - New Films, New Directors in Portugal, where she won best pitch. 

Her years in Portugal moved her to write, direct, and edit her first authorial short, Golden Shower, a comedy about a Brazilian woman who receives an unexpected sexual proposal from her Portuguese boyfriend. Golden Shower premiered at IndieLisboa and had its International Premiere at Winterthur in Switzerland. She also won “Best National Director” at HaHaArt Film Festival, the only comedy film festival in Portugal, despite being Brazilian. 

Last year, Stella wrote and directed a short film through La Factory des Cinéastes, selected as a Brazilian Northeastern talent to direct and write The Cowgirl, The Showgirl and the Pig, a translesbian western that premiered on the opening night of Director’s Fortnight in Cannes Film Festival. 

Stella’s latest short, Pastel de Festa, about a 15-year-old Black girl who sabotages her older sister’s farewell party by putting laxative in the food, recently finished post-production in March, and now looks for a World Premiere.

Unafraid of controversial topics, Stella’s quick-paced films take female leads to their most vulnerable, often humorous moments.