Maria Julia Ferreira is a 24-year-old director, writer and producer from Florianópolis, Brazil. Her work spans political realism and women-centered narratives driven by deep internal conflict, as well as dystopian and gender-bending worlds that challenge conventional structures of identity. Her American directorial debut, Fear of Flying, explores dual universes through the lens of an older immigrant woman navigating grief, belonging, and reinvention. Maria is a Film & TV rising senior at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, with international experience as such as Kino Guarimba (Italy, 2023) and the BFI London Film Festival (2024). more...