MICHEL COELI

Michel Coeli is a Brazilian filmmaker and photographer, a graduate of the Darcy Ribeiro Film School in Rio de Janeiro. With a career defined by an immersive and sensitive approach, he has dedicated himself to telling stories that reveal the human complexities and urgent challenges of our time.

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He is the creator and director of the documentary series Que Mundo É Esse? (GloboNews/Globoplay), through which he has traveled to over 50 countries, documenting everything from wars and humanitarian crises to overlooked environmental causes. Coeli has been on the front lines of conflicts such as the war against ISIS in Iraq, the Syrian civil war, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has also filmed in extreme locations like Chernobyl and closely followed the refugee crisis in Europe. His environmental reporting includes the ivory trade in Kenya, the whale hunt in the Faroe Islands, and the Great Green Wall reforestation project in the African Sahel.

 

He also served as editor and director of the series Não Conta Lá em Casa (Multishow), where he explored remote and hostile territories, offering a fresh perspective beyond traditional media coverage by focusing on the everyday realities of local people.

 

In 2014, his short documentary No Olho do Furacão ("In the Eye of the Storm"), about the 2013 protests in Brazil, gained international recognition and was screened at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva.

 

Sinfonia da Sobrevivência (2024), his first feature-length documentary, dives into the devastating aftermath of wildfires in the Pantanal. By documenting the struggle of wounded wildlife and the efforts of volunteers in the absence of state support, the film became a powerful record of Brazil's environmental crisis, winning Best Documentary by the international jury at the 48th São Paulo International Film Festival.

 

Michel Coeli believes in the power of cinema as a tool for listening and expanding awareness. His work aims to shed light on urgent, silenced, or forgotten stories—narratives that invite reflection and awaken consciousness.