Carolina Fernandes is a film director, screenwriter, and producer based in the Brazilian Amazon. She holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Production and specialized in Film at the Maine Media Workshops (USA). For over 15 years, she has developed a cinematic practice deeply rooted in the Amazon territory, engaging with socio-environmental issues through a sensitive and immersive lens.
She directed and wrote the short documentary Pirarucu – The Breath of the Amazon, which received the Special Award Renata Viviani and an Honorable Mention from the International Jury at the Sondrio International Film Festival (Italy). The film was a semifinalist for Best Short Documentary at the Berlin Shorts Award (Germany) and a nominee at the Panda Awards at the Wildscreen International Film Festival (UK). It continues its international circulation with selections at festivals including the Girona International Film Festival and the Paris Ethnographic Film Festival, among others. She also directed and wrote the short film Simplicity, selected for the 20th São Paulo International Short Film Festival.
Carolina served as Research Director on the documentary We Are Guardians, which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 47th São Paulo International Film Festival. She produced and worked as Assistant Director on The Last Forest (2021), winner of the Audience Award in the Panorama section at the Berlinale, and on Ex-Pajé (2018), awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival and at É Tudo Verdade – International Documentary Film Festival.
As head of Banksia Films, her short and feature films have been widely selected and awarded internationally. Waldenreceived the award for Best Swiss Film at the Zurich Film Festival (2018), and Brazil – A Natural History won Best Film at the Deauville Green Awards (France, 2016). She produced Super Nature (2025), screened at the BFI London Film Festival, and was part of the executive production team of The Last Blue, winner of the Silver Bear – Grand Jury Prize at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. She also worked as a researcher on Apocalypse in the Tropics (2025), released by Netflix, shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards and recipient of an IDA Award.
She is currently completing her first feature-length documentary, Mães da Terra.