Bernardo Florim is a film director, screenwriter, and playwright known for Avenida Beira-Mar (2024), Nelson Pereira dos Santos - Vida de Cinema (2023) and Missão 115 (2018).

He’s graduated from the renowned film school at the Federal Fluminense University, one of the most traditional in Brazil, founded by the acclaimed filmmaker Nelson Pereira dos Santos.

His debut feature, Seaside Avenue (Avenida Beira-Mar), co-directed with Maju de Paiva, won the Best Direction Award and an Honorable Mention for Best Film at the Guadalajara Film Festival, the Félix LGBTQIA+ Award at the Rio International Film Festival, and Best Screenplay at both the Mix Brasil Film Festival and FRAPA - Porto Alegre International Screenplay Festival. The project was selected for the New Stories Lab, Brazil’s leading screenwriting program, and represented the country at the prestigious Produire au Sud workshop during the Festival des 3 Continents in France (2021). The film was also screened at film festivals in Argentina, France, Italy (Giffoni Film Festival), Spain, the United States, and Cuba (Havana Film Festival) before its theatrical release and broadcast on Brazil’s Telecine channel. Seaside Avenue was later nominated for Best Actress (Andrea Beltrão) by the Brazilian Film Academy, the country’s equivalent of the Oscars.

His second feature, Days of Fire (Diário do Fogo), also co-directed with Maju de Paiva, was funded by the Telecine channel. Shot in 2025, it was one of five Brazilian films selected for the Marché du Film at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Between 2018 and 2022, Florim worked as a screenwriter on several notable projects, including Nelson Pereira dos Santos: A Life of Cinema, a documentary about the legendary filmmaker that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023; and Missão 115, about the aftermath of Brazil’s dictatorship, which premiered at the It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival in 2018. He also co-wrote the documentaries Eu Sou o Samba, Mas Pode me Chamar de Zé Ketti, about the celebrated musician, and Euclydes, about Brazil’s first black aviator, which premiered at the São Paulo International Film Festival. For television, he wrote the documentary series Onde a Beleza Está (Curta! channel).

Florim has taught screenwriting as a guest professor in several universities. He also served on the selection committees of renowned screenwriting labs.

As a playwright, Florim wrote eight plays that were staged in different states throughout the country.

Eu Sou o Samba, Mas Pode me Chamar de Zé Ketti

Nelson Pereira dos Santos - Vida de Cinema

See photos of celebrities before they hit the big-time.

Bernardo Florim

Director

Writer

Actor

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Thanks