Aninga Lab

ANINGA Lab, formerly known as EUETU LAB, was co-founded by Juliana Curi with the first Cohort founded in 2021.

The Lab is a mentorship program aiming to integrate young talents from underrepresented groups into the workforce. Launched in January 2021, it offers regular sessions focusing on professional development and learning in a supportive environment. Juliana describes the initiative as a means to historically redress and transform access for women, Black individuals, Indigenous peoples, and LGBTQIA+ persons to the communication industry, especially those from marginalized communities in Brazil. Inspired by ancestral social organization technologies and honoring Afro-Indigenous philosophies, the program embodies the principle of collective strength: "I am because you are." This central ethos challenges established professionals to consider market transformation, positioning the mentorship as a 6-month incubator for nurturing young talents.

The Lab completed its second batch in April 2024, totaling 12 mentored talents. The first cohort has successfully placed 6 young talents who are now developing significant careers at top production companies, agencies, and universities in the country.

2021 / 2022 Cohort

  • NICK ZARA

    Art Director + Masters Student in Media and Audiovisual Processes

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  • PAULO SOARES

    Producer

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  • MARTA MIRANDA

    Assistant Director

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  • AMANDA DOS SANTOS

    Producer

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  • LETICIA SENA

    Creative Researcher + Art Direction Assistant

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  • RAFIS MARTINS

    Impact Producer & Activist

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2023 / 2024 Cohort

Mentors + Allies

Saigon (Production Company)

Pedro Pereira (Film Director and Founder of Saigon)

Fernanda Curi (Executive Producer Meta)

Renata Simões (Journalist and Screenwriter)

Patrícia Lee Mo (Creative Data Sr. Art Director at Soko)

Gabi Brites (Director and Lady Bird Founder)

Thais Brunello (Director and Psychologist)

Ricardo Souza (Director)

Claudia Alves (Filmmaker)

Rafis Martins (Impact Producer at Café Royal)

Martina Sönksen (Screenwriter and Doc Filmmaker)

Gabriela Mangieri (Executive Creative Producer)

As Meninas (Babu Bicudo & Julia Morelli - creative directors and photographers)

Carol Ozzi (Set Designer)

Juliana Porto (Territórios do Corpo)

Arthur Daraujo (Art Director Associate Creative Director)

Mallena Sales (Copywriter)

UÝRA — THE RISING FOREST

This powerful cinematic portrait was created by a diverse team of talented professionals — women, Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ filmmakers — and represented the first major feature-film opportunity for many of them.

The film screened at 35 festivals, won 17 awards, and received praise from The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and the Golden Globes Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Its distribution journey began in Amazonian communities, accompanied by workshops on filmmaking and environmental activism, and culminated in its acquisition by PBS and nationwide broadcast across the United States — reflecting the project’s commitment to both creative excellence and community impact.

Documentary Feature Film Brazil + USA | 72min | Color

UÝRA’s Impact Campaign and Distribution

We designed the impact campaign and distribution around a principle of non-extractive filmmaking, putting the Amazonian communities whose stories shaped the film at the center of its release.

Our goal was to expand access to cinema and support young Amazonians in telling their own stories and defending their territories.

Screenings and educational activities included the Brazilian premiere in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Manaus where Uýra once lived, a mobile filmmaking workshop for Ticuna and Kokama women to document life and environmental threats in their territories, and a training program in Tumbira that helped prepare young climate leaders for COP27.

The film went on to screen at 35 festivals and air nationally on PBS in the United States. But its journey began at home, with the people whose lives are at the heart of it.