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PRISCILA
GONTIJO
SCREENWRITER

Priscila Gontijo is a Rio de Janeiro–born playwright and writer based in São Paulo. She works across playwriting, fiction, screenwriting, research, and teaching. She holds a PhD in Comparative Studies of Portuguese-Language Literatures from the University of São Paulo (USP), an MA in Literature and Literary Criticism, and a BA in Portuguese and French Language and Literature from PUC-SP. She was a member of the Playwriting Unit at Antunes Filho’s Teatro Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Teatral – CPT/SESC São Paulo) for three years. Her stage plays have been produced by directors such as Fernanda D’Umbra (Deadline, 2018), Eric Lenate (Funâmbulas, 2018), Walter Lima Jr. and Delson Antunes (A vida dela, 2016), Suzan Damasceno (Uma noite sem o aspirador de pó, 2014), and Márcia Abujamra (C+A+T+R+A+C+A, 2014). As a screenwriter, she has worked in multiple writers’ rooms and wrote the series Entre o Céu e a Terra for TV Brasil, Seasons 2 and 3 of DOM (produced by Conspiração Filmes), and #MeChamaDeBruna for TVZero. She was also awarded development and script funding for the original telefilm IRINA through TV Cultura’s public commissioning program. As a fiction writer, she is the author of O som dos anéis de Saturno (2020), a semifinalist for the 2021 Oceanos Prize, and Peixe Cego (2016), a finalist for the 2017 São Paulo Literature Prize, both published by 7Letras. In 2023, she released the short-story collection Animais Submersos (Quelônio). She currently serves as Head and Instructor of the Screenwriting Program in the postgraduate Creative Writing course at Instituto Vera Cruz and is developing a feature film screenplay with Abrolhos Produções. Her academic expertise focuses on the theater of Nelson Rodrigues and the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, with ongoing research into contemporary polyphonic narrative forms.

Education and Professional Training

  • PhD in Comparative Studies of Portuguese-Language Literatures, University of São Paulo (USP). January 6, 2020 – June 11, 2025

  • MA in Literature and Literary Criticism, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). August 10, 2016 – October 26, 2018.

  • BA in French and Portuguese Language and Literature, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). August 10, 2011 – November 9, 2015.

  • Playwriting Circle (Círculo de Dramaturgia), CPT – Centro de Pesquisa Teatral, coordinated by Antunes Filho. 2006, 2007, 2008. SESC Anchieta, São Paulo.

  • CPT – Centro de Pesquisa Teatral, coordinated by Antunes Filho. 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2011. Participated as an actress with Grupo Macunaíma in stage productions of Medea and Policarpo Quaresma, directed by Antunes Filho. SESC Anchieta, São Paulo.

  • Playwriting workshop with French essayist and playwright Jean-Pierre Sarrazac. SESC Anchieta, São Paulo, 2011.

  • New Playwrights Program (Núcleo de Dramaturgia Novos Autores), SESI / British Council. São Paulo, 2011.

  • University Extension Course in Creative Writing, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). March 29, 2016 – June 7, 2016.

Filmography

  • “TAURA 47” (in production) – screenwriter, feature film, Abrolhos.

  • “DOM” Seasons 2 and 3 (2023/2024) – screenwriter, TV series, Conspiração Filmes, Amazon Prime Video.

  • “#MeChamaDeBruna” (2018) – screenwriter, TV series, TV Zero, FOX.

  • “O HORLA” (in production) – story and screenplay development with Heitor Dhalia, feature film, ParanoidBr.

  • “Entre o Céu e a Terra” (2015/2016) – screenwriter, hybrid fiction–documentary TV series, co-production by Realejo Filmes and TV Brasil / EBC.

  • “Cheers” (working title) (2014) – series screenplay development, RT/features, for GNT.

  • “IRINA” (2011/2012) – screenwriter, TV movie, Artefício Filmes in co-production with TV Cultura, produced with support from the Government of the State of São Paulo, State Secretariat of Culture, Cultural Action Program (ProAC).

WORKS

  • Instituto Vera Cruz (2024–2025) – Program Coordinator of the postgraduate Creative Writing program, Head of the Screenwriting Track for Film and Television.

  • Instituto Vera Cruz (2022–2025) – Lecturer in playwriting and screenwriting in the postgraduate Creative Writing program, Fiction and Screenwriting tracks.

  • AIC – Academia Internacional de Cinema (2025) – Instructor in the Advanced LAB course for feature films and TV series.

  • Roteiraria (2023) – Instructor of the online course Fiction Narratives: From Dramatic Text to Audiovisual Screenplay.

  • 37th and 33rd FESTIVALE – National Theatre Festival of São José dos Campos (2023, 2018) – Theatre critic.

  • Faculdade Armando Álvares Penteado – FAAP (2020, 2022) – External Examiner, Final Project Review Committee for the Postgraduate Program in Screenwriting for Film and Television.

  • Oceanos Prize (2022) – First-round juror in the Fiction category.

  • AIC – Academia Internacional de Cinema, São Paulo (2019) – Screenwriting instructor in the technical program in Film Directing (Filmworks).

  • Casa do Saber (2019) – Instructor of the narrative writing workshop How to Create a Story.

  • SESC Ipiranga (2019) – Guest playwright for the Dramaturgias 2 project, leading Atelier 6: Dramatic Structure.

  • Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo – COGEAE/PUC-SP (2018) – Lecturer in Creative Writing for the University Extension Course Creative Writing: Introduction to Writing, School of Philosophy, Communication, Letters and Arts.

  • Centro Cultural São Paulo (2018) – Instructor of the playwriting workshop Short Forms for Theatre.

  • Esquenta (TV Globo) (2014–2015) – Text researcher.

Awards and Nominationss

  • “DOM” (2022-2024)
    • Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro (2022) – Winner, Best Brazilian Fiction Series for Pay TV / Streaming.
    • Prêmio Contigo! Brasil (2022) – Nominee, Best Brazilian Fiction Series for Pay TV.
    • APCA Television Award (2023) – Nominee, Best Brazilian Fiction Series.
    • NaTelinha Best of the Year (2023) – Nominee, Best Brazilian Series of the Year.
  • “O HORLA” (2017)

    • PRODAV Public Call 03 – Creative Hubs (2017) – Selected. Screenwriter of a non-serialized fiction feature film (approx. 100 minutes), provisionally titled A Horla. ParanoidBr Creative Hub, São Paulo.

  • “IRINA” (2012)

    • TV Cultura Telefilm Project (2011) – Awarded; author of the original story and screenplay. Winner of Best Original Fiction Story and Screenplay for a TV movie.

BOOKS

  • “ANIMAIS SUBMERSOS” (ed. Quelônio, 2022) 

    • ProAC – Cultural Action Program No. 19/2021. Selected project: short story collection with 17 narratives. Author. ProAC Expresso Public Call No. 19/2021, Module 1: Fiction / Category: Literature. State of São Paulo..

  • “O SOM DOS ANÉIS DE SATURNO” (7Letras, 2020) 

    • Oceanos Prize (2021) – Nominee, Best Brazilian Novel.

  • “PEIXE CEGO” (7Letras, 2016) 

    • São Paulo Literature Prize (2017) – Nominee, Best Debut Novel.
    • ESC Literature Prize (2016) – Nominee, Best Novel.

  • “PEIXE CEGO” (7Letras, 2016) 

    • CAE Mentorship Program (2016), Casa das Rosas – Selected as Best Novel of the program’s first edition.

FELLOWSHIPS

  • Literature and Literary Criticism Program (2016).
    MA research project titled “Dissonant Voices in Vestido de Noiva and Valsa nº 6 by Nelson Rodrigues and the Proposal for the Creation of a Dramatic Novel,” awarded a CAPES Fellowship (Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education), under the supervision of Professor Annita Costa Malufe, PhD, at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.
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