Documentary Filmmakers. Directors of Photography. Storytellers. Musicians. Advocates.
Ethnofilmmakers presents a selection of acclaimed documentaries. Our purpose is to amplify the visibility of under-resourced, deserving, quality projects filmed, directed, or produced by independent filmmakers. Here, we showcase our passion for storytelling and our commitment to promoting diverse voices in filmmaking.
Biographies
Neil Turner, PhD, anthropologist, author, writer & director has been living and conducting ethnographic work in Latin America for two decades. He is the editor of the online magazine Perspectives in Anthropology and has written for several international journals.
Also, he has published several books on Brazilian culture and society and his documentary work includes a half dozen or more documentaries. He is considered an immersive independent filmmaker who crafts compelling documentaries that captivate audiences. Turner states, "...as an anthropologist and ethnographic filmmaker, I am interested in telling the story of those people whose humanity has been rendered unimportant. I want to give audiences the deeper truth - something more than just the facts."
Jorge Floretta was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1969. He began his career in filmmaking in 1989. He has worked as a Director of Photography in the United States and Europe. Also, he worked as guest gaffer for Universal Studios, Hollywood in director Michael Mann’s shoot of Miami Vice in Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. In 2006, he filmed movies in Spain. In Uruguay, he taught classes in movie theatre and presented works at universities in Paraguay (TESAPE) and Uruguay (CLAHE). In 1992, he started a career as a free-lancer mainly in the area of advertising as a Director of Photography in campaigns for some of the biggest commercial brand names such as Heineken, Ford, Bacardi, Yogurt, GMC, Acura, Suzuki, Budweiser, Coors, Sancor, Keith’s, Pepsi, and MoviStar. Currently, he lives and works as a Director of Photography in Brazil.
Marcelo Villegas is a Bolivian cinematographer, DP, and camera operator based in São Paulo, Brazil. He is the winner of Best Cinematography Award in the Festival Mundial de Cine de Veracruz as camera and drone operator and has been awarded best cinematography for his commercial "Verao naturalmente incrível" in the Cria PE Festival. Also, he received acclaim for best cinematography for the feature film "Sirena" in the Festival mundial de Cine de Veracruz, 2020. His own directorial and cinematography debut was featured in Huari – Sigue el Hilo. Additional work includes the World premiere at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata in 2019; National Geographic's documentary “Madidi”; Discovery Channel’s documentary “Amazon Armageddon;" the Lisbon Film Festival International Shorts Festival production of “Sami”; and the UK Channel 4 TV documentary series “Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon.” He is also a member of the Brazilian Association of Cinematography (A.B.C.), and worked for Discovery Channel, National Geographic, BBC, Vice and Channel 4 UK. In addition, he has done work for The Governo de Pernambuco, Nagem, Yamaha, Ultrafarma, Bewley's, Samsung, Uninorte, Sport Clube Recife, and Bagó.
Bernardo Mesquita, PhD, musicologist, musician, sound engineer, sound design, professor Federal University at Manaus, Amazonas,
Brazil. As a musician, he worked with several artist in Brazil and Europe. For more than ten years, he has participated in the Musica do Brasil, the Musica na Praxis project, and the Musica de Quintal project. Also for the past decade, he has focused on the formation of modern Carimba and other musical genres in the Amazon. He teaches the History of Brazilian Music, Folklore and Ethnomusicology, and recently published a best selling book on music in Brazil - "Das Beiradas ao Beiradão."