José Bial is a Brazilian filmmaker from Rio de Janeiro whose work explores themes including masculinity, Brazilian whiteness, humor, love, and the country’s military dictatorship. He holds a degree in Film from PUC-Rio, and his work has been screened at festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, Festival do Rio, Beijing LiftOff Film Festival, and Festival da Fronteira. His filmography includes Oma, about a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor living in Rio de Janeiro; Pequenos Traficantes Brancos (Small White Drug Dealers), about upper-class drug dealers in Rio; and Omar, a tribute to the HBO series The Wire, created for Festival Cena and artist PutodiParis. His feature directorial debut is 8 Baixos, a documentary supported by Brazil’s Paulo Gustavo Law, scheduled for release in 2026. As a screenwriter, José wrote the feature film Marejada, currently in pre-production, starring Denise Fraga and produced by Gávea Filmes. The project was awarded at the N2B Lab screenwriting development lab. In 2024, he also wrote the unreleased feature A Praça Vazia for directors Cacá Diegues and Silvio Guindane. He has worked as an assistant director on the Globoplay series O Canto Livre de Nara Leão, directed by Renato Terra; the feature film Para Vigo Me Voy, directed by Lírio Ferreira and Karen Harley; and Felipe Amorim’s visual album Amor In Studio, directed by Uriel Calomeni. He also directed the music video for “Grana Continua Grana” by artist Brutos, released by Bairro 13 Records. Before becoming a filmmaker, José pursued a career as a professional basketball player with Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas.
