ZDFILMS and DENISE ZMEKHOL PRODUÇÕES are production companies specializing in multimedia projects and short and feature-length documentaries. They have been working in the media segment since 2003, on projects in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. They are headquartered in Berkeley, USA and São Paulo, Brazil. Founded by filmmaker Denise Zmekhol, their projects have received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, iTVS, and the International Documentary Association. Among the clients served by the production companies are Google and Facebook.
DENISE ZMEKHOL is an Arab-Brazilian award-winning producer and director of documentary films and media projects that span the globe. Zmekhol’s work addresses cultural preservation and environmental stewardship and how these issues intersect with technological innovation. Her documentary films, commercials and innovative transmedia projects have been recognized for their elegant visual style and deft storytelling.
Her feature documentary CHILDREN OF THE AMAZON was supported by the Independent Television Service and broadcast on PBS, as well as on European and Latin American television. The film won multiple awards at film festivals around the world. Through captivating photos and interviews, CHILDREN OF THE AMAZON tells the story of struggle and hope to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest and its inhabitants. The film follows Zmekhol as she travels a modern highway deep into the Amazon in search of the indigenous Surui and Negarote children she photographed fifteen years earlier. Part road movie, part time travel, her journey tells the story of what happened to life in the largest forest on earth when a road was built straight through its heart.
Projects produced with Google Earth include, TRADING BOWS AND ARROWS FOR LAPTOPS which documents efforts of indigenous Amazonian tribes to map their land as a means of preserving their cultural traditions and protecting their forests from illegal logging, and FROM THE GROUND TO THE CLOUD: TRANSFORMING CHIMPANZEE CONSERVATION WITH HIGH-TECH TOOLS, produced in conjunction with the Jane Goodall Institute.
Zmekhol co-directed BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE a short for PBS/TED Talks: SCIENCE AND WONDER and was co-producer on Amir Soltani and Chihiro Wimbush’s DOGTOWN REDEMPTION, a film about poverty and recyclers in West Oakland that was exhibited on the PBS series Independent Lens.
In 2019, Zmekhol was included in a list of 15 Bay Area Filmmakers to Watch. She presented the story of SKIN OF GLASS at the Pop-Up Magazine Spring 2019 tour in seven cities along with women from around the world at the TEDWomen BOLD + BRILLIANT conference. In 2021, Zmekhol received a BAVC Media Fellowship, attended the Logan Nonfiction Program and was invited to participate at DOC NYC Only in New York industry meetings.
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Zmekhol is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French and has worked on projects in Brazil, Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States.
A ZDFILMS e a DENISE ZMEKHOL PRODUÇÕES são produtoras especializadas em projetos multimídia e documentários de curta e longa-metragem. Atuam no segmento de mídia desde 2003, em projetos na Europa, África, Ásia e Américas. Possuem sede em Berkeley, EUA e em São Paulo, Brasil. Fundadas pela cineasta Denise Zmekhol, seus projetos receberam apoio da National Endowment for the Arts, iTVS, International Documentary Association. Entre os clientes atendidos pelas produtoras estão Google e Facebook, entre outros.
Denise Zmekhol é uma premiada diretora de documentários conhecida por seu elegante estilo visual. Seu documentário CRIANÇAS DA AMAZÔNIA foi exibido em canais como TV Cultura, Canal Curta, PBS e televisões europeias e recebeu prêmios em festivais ao redor do mundo. O filme acompanha a documentarista enquanto viaja por uma estrada aberta nas profundezas da Amazônia em busca das crianças indígenas Suruí e Negarotê que ela fotografou quinze anos antes. O resultado é uma visão única da Floresta Amazônica contada por indígenas, que há menos de 40 anos tiveram o primeiro contato com o mundo moderno, e seringueiros. Os jovens adultos, agora crescidos, navegam de forma arriscada entre preservação de tradições e costumes e sobrevivência econômica.
Entre os projetos produzidos com o Google Earth, TROCANDO ARCO E FECHAS POR LAPTOPS documenta os esforços de povos indígenas da Amazônia para mapear seus territórios como um meio de preservar suas tradições culturais e proteger suas florestas da extração ilegal de madeira. DO CHÃO À NUVEM, mostra a parceria entre o Instituto Jane Goodall, o Google Earth Outreach e moradores locais para monitorar a saúde dos habitats dos chimpanzés, usando tecnologias de mapeamento móvel, via satélite e baseadas em nuvem. Também coproduziu e codirigiu a série da PBS "Digital Journey", ganhadora do Emmy Awards, que explora tecnologias emergentes em seus contextos sociais, ambientais e culturais.
Recentemente, Denise dirigiu o premiado documentário PELE DE VIDRO, e apresentou a história do filme na turnê Pop-Up Magazine Spring 2019 e na TEDWomen BOLD + BRILLIANT em Palm Springs. SKIN OF GLASS, recebeu patrocínio da ITVS, National Endowment for the Arts, IDA- Enterprise Documentary Fund, Latino Public Broadcasting, Berkeley Film Foundation Al Bendich Award e de várias fundações privadas.