Cannes Docs 2025
I Heard the Calling: The Return of the Tupinambá Cloak
A documentary about restitution, memory, territory and cultural reparation, following Célia Tupinambá's journey through European museums.
Brazil / France
Cinema, restitution,
territory and living memory.
Director, editor and cinematographer focused on high-impact documentaries rooted in territory, identity and decolonial perspectives. With projects developed across Europe and Latin America, my work moves between intimate storytelling and global circulation, engaging festivals, broadcasters and international co-productions.
Featured project
The project in the center of the current cycle
Visual highlights
Fragments, films and moving images
Direction / Editing / Cinematography
Spanning image, territory, archive, performance, and presence, the work isn’t merely about filming; it’s about shifting the perspective.
About
Robson Dias
Robson Dias is a Brazilian-born filmmaker based in Marseille, working across directing, cinematography and editing at the intersection of documentary, art and political cinema. Trained in Brazil and France, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cinema from PUC-Rio and a Master’s in Documentary Directing from Aix-Marseille Université. Over the past decade, he has developed a transnational practice between Latin America and Europe, navigating both independent production and international co-production environments.
His work explores questions of territory, memory, power and representation, often engaging with decolonial perspectives and the politics of the gaze. His short film Pra Inglês Ver was awarded at the Gramado Film Festival, and he later co-wrote and edited the feature documentary KABADIO, while also directing second unit for the series Surfing West Africa (Canal OFF). Since relocating to Europe, he has collaborated across France, Germany and Italy, and founded Búzios Films, an independent production structure focused on culturally sensitive narratives.
In 2024, his short documentary Favela Turística — a critical reflection on the contradictions of favela tourism — was selected for the Warner Bros. Discovery Access Program and released on the MAX platform, later broadcast across Latin America. His current feature documentary, I Heard the Calling: The Return of the Tupinambá Cloak, follows the political and spiritual struggle for the restitution of sacred Tupinambá artifacts held in European institutions. The project was presented at Cannes Docs and received the Docs-in-Progress Award, consolidating its international positioning.
Alongside his filmmaking practice, Dias is actively engaged as a speaker, mentor and educator. He has participated in major industry platforms such as Rio2C and international markets, and teaches documentary methodologies and cinematic practice at institutions including École Kourtrajmé in Marseille. His work moves fluidly between artistic creation and critical discourse, positioning cinema as both a narrative form and a political tool.
Fluent across multiple cultural and professional contexts, Robson Dias develops projects that challenge dominant narratives, foreground marginalized voices and propose new forms of cinematic language. His films are not only works of storytelling, but gestures of resistance, negotiation and reappropriation of history.
CANNES DOCS 2025
DOCS-IN-PROGRESS WINNER
BRAZIL / FRANCE
POST-PRODUCTION
GAP FINANCING
INTERNATIONAL CO-PRODUCERS
CANNES DOCS 2025
DOCS-IN-PROGRESS WINNER
BRAZIL / FRANCE
POST-PRODUCTION
GAP FINANCING
INTERNATIONAL CO-PRODUCERS
Talks / Teaching / Mentoring
Beyond directing and cinematography
Alongside filmmaking, Robson Dias works as a speaker, teacher and mentor across industry platforms, training spaces and cultural programs. His practice connects cinema, representation, authorship and access, with experience in public talks, professional panels and hands-on workshops.
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