Brazilian born Producer, Elias Ribeiro, has worked internationally since

1999. A resident in South Africa for over 12 years, he launched Urucu

in 2011, a production company dedicated to making authentic and

thought-provoking films. They have won awards globally, from Sundance to Locarno, BFI

London, Durban, Rio and Beijing. In 2015 Ribeiro co-founded Realness

African Screenwriters’ Residency, a content incubator that has developed 30

feature projects, and evolved into the Realness Institute, housing 3

capacity-building programs in the creative industry as well as 3 content incubators. The Institute, which

has also recently partnered with Netflix, caters to writers, producers,

directors, programmers, sales & distribution professionals, episodic

content creators and development executives. Out of 7 features, Ribeiro’s

most successful film, INXEBA was shortlisted for an Oscar after winning

6 SAFTAS and 28 International awards. He was recently appointed

by the Locarno Film Festival as a regional manager of the Southern

Africa-Locarno Industry Academy. He enjoys consulting across the audio-visual value chain, contributing 

as a jury member to organisations like FESPACO and Hubert Bals. He often speaks or moderates at 

International Festivals and Industry Panels, mentors at professional development initiatives such as 

European Film Market at the Berlinale, Cinemart at IFFR and La Fabrique in Cannes.