New Film Will Chronicle the Life and Work of Brazilian Photographer Claudia Andujar

A new biopic will focus on the life and work of photographer Claudia Andujar, best known for documenting the Yanomami people, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous peoples.

Titled The Outsider, the film is described as an “intimate biopic” based on two decades of research into the life of Brazilian photographer and activist Claudia Andujar. Brazilian production company Maria Farinha Filmes announced the project, which will be directed by photographer and filmmaker Sandra Delgado.

Oscar-nominated actor Wagner Moura, known for roles in Civil War and The Secret Agent, will serve as executive producer of The Outsider. Norwegian actor Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas has been cast to play Andujar. Lilleaas recently appeared in Sentimental Value, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

According to a report by Variety, The Outsider will follow Andujar’s life, from surviving the Holocaust to becoming a photographer whose work became closely tied to activism focused on human rights and sustainability. Much of Andujar’s work has centered on historically marginalized communities in Brazil and spent more than five decades capturing images of the Yanomami people, using photography as a tool for political change. Her efforts contributed to the demarcation of Indigenous lands and vaccination campaigns in the Amazon region.

Andujar’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York and the Tate in the United Kingdom. She also has a dedicated gallery at Brazil’s Inhotim museum.

Director Delgado, an established photographer herself, has spent more than 20 years studying Andujar’s life and work. She is developing The Outsider with the support of two consultants: Carlo Zacquini, an Italian Catholic missionary and longtime friend of Andujar who worked with her to raise awareness about violence against the Yanomami people in the Amazon, and Ana Maria Machado, a Brazilian anthropologist whose research has helped connect Yanomami culture and language to Delgado’s work on the film.

Explaining what inspired the project, Delgado says she is driven by an “affection” for Andujar and “a profound admiration for her work.”

“My hope is that this film introduces audiences to the life journey, art, and activism of Claudia Andujar, while offering a critical lens on the devastating consequences of predatory development in Brazil,” Delgado says.