Director’s Biography

Co-founder of Mercuria, Mandarava Bricaire is a French-Italian filmmaker. In 2019 she made a video for the group exhibition “Italian Lexicon, Faces and Stories of Our Country” commissioned by the Council of Ministers, on display at the Museo Vittoriano and shot a music video Cuando Pararà for Nike Peru. In 2020 she produced the short film Umbra Viventis Lucis, wonning honorable mention at the Costa Rica Festival Internacional de Cine (CRFIC) and exhibited at the Costa Rica Museum of Modern Art. In 2021 she directed, edited, and produced Lotus Eaters published in Vogue Italia and exhibited at the Costa Rica Museum of Modern Art. In 2022 she directed, edited and shot a 16mm portrait of Mexican chef Monica Patiño (Piedra contra Piedra) published by GastroLab Mexico. In 2023 he produced and co-wrote Solo La Luna Comprenderá, a hybrid fiction-documentary short film premier premiered in Locarno, in the U.S. at the New York Film Festival, winner of Best Short Film in Chile, twice in Brazil, in Hamburg and selected in more than 80 festivals worldwide.

Selection of previous work as a director

Lotus Eaters, 2021

Pidra Contra Piedra, 2022




Script Writer’s Bio

Lara Fremder has written screenplays and subjects for films and documentaries presented in major national and international festivals and won prizes and received awards. She teaches film writing since many years at the Visconti Film School in Milan and CISA in Locarno. Last year she wrote the novel L'ordine Apparente delle Cose.


DoP’s Bio

Co-founder of Mercuria and founding member and vice president of the Costa Rica Society of Cinematographers. In his 12-year career as a cinematographer, Pietro Bulgarelli has shot short films, advertising campaigns, documentaries and feature films. He is Italian-Costa Rican and has worked in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. In addition to working as a DoP, he has written and directed short films such as El Hilo, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Costa Rica Festival Internacional de Cine (CRFIC) and the Festival Internacional de VideoArte (FIVA). In 2021 his film Umbra Viventis Lucis won the Jury Prize at the Costa Rica Festival Internacional de Cine. 

Demo Reel:

https://vimeo.com/513217567