D'un corps à l'autre
documentary, production Survivance et Gogogofilms, Buddy Movies, Clin d’œil, CNC, 2026, 100'
Cinema release in 2027
Career
French director
After studying film at IDHEC, Mariana Otero developed a passion for documentary filmmaking. She directed several films for Arte, including Non Lieux and La loi du collège, which was the channel’s first documentary series.
Between 1995 and 2000, she lived in Portugal, where she directed Cette télévision est la vôtre, which explores the inner workings of the country’s largest commercial television network, SIC. By exposing the inner workings of the country’s largest commercial television network, this film sparked a huge controversy in Portugal.
She then returned to France and turned her attention to feature films with Histoire d’un secret.
This film, following an investigation into a family secret, reveals a political and social taboo and brings to light the work of her mother, a painter who died suddenly in 1968 as a result of a clandestine abortion. A major critical and commercial success, the film won awards at numerous international film festivals.
In 2010, she directed Entre nos mains, which tells the story of how female employees discover a new freedom as they attempt to transform their company into a cooperative. This film was nominated for a César Award for Best Documentary in 2011.
In 2013, she directed A ciel ouvert, a film that offers insight into the unique worldview of children facing psychological and social challenges. As a follow-up to the film, she co-wrote the book A ciel ouvert, entretiens with Marie Brémond.
In 2016–17, she directed L’Assemblée, a film shot during the Nuit debout protests, which shows how people in Place de la République in Paris attempted to reinvent democracy.
In 2019, she directed Histoire d’un regard about photojournalist Gilles Caron. A sort of second part of a diptych that it forms with Histoire d’un secret, this film brings a deceased artist back to life and into the present by examining and questioning his images. The film was selected for numerous international festivals and nominated for a César Award for Best Documentary in 2020.
In 2026, she completed her new film, D’un corps à l’autre, which chronicles a dance workshop with visually impaired and neurodivergent participants, where she collaborated with a sound designer who helps convey the sensation of touch and bodily movements. This joyful film - as sensory as it is political - celebrates difference and art as a special space for encounter and sharing.
In addition, she teaches at the Ateliers Varan, where she has been a member since 2000; at La Fémis; at the University of Jussieu; at Creadoc (University of Poitiers/Angoulême), where she headed the Master 2 program in Creative Documentary for six years (2006–2012); at ECAL (Lausanne); and elsewhere. She is a member of the SRF and of ACID, where she served as co-president from 2010 to 2012. She is a member of the Association des Amis du cinéma du réel, where she served as co-president from 2020 to 2022.
In 2011, she was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
In 2025, she founded the association Aux avortées inconnues to erect a monument in Paris dedicated to women who died from clandestine abortions. She directed Lettres pour un avortement clandestin at the Maison de la Poésie and the Théâtre de la Concorde, featuring 17 actresses, including Anne Alvaro, India Hair, and Clotilde Hesme…
Selective Filmography
Histoire d'un regard
documentary, production Archipel 33, CNC, France, 2020, 90'
Nominated for a César Award in the Best Documentary category in 2021; SCAM Star 2021; Lussas Documentary Film Festival; Cambodia IFF; Hot Docs Toronto; Vive le cinéma Festival! Lecce, Italy; One World Romania International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival; Jerusalem Film Festival; Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Poland; FIFF Tübingen Stuttgart; IFI French Film Festival, Dublin; Brussels Art Film Festival; RIDM Montreal. Release in France: January 2020 (Diaphana) / VOD on Univers Ciné, Orange, CanalVOD / International distributor: MK2 Distribution
The Assembly
documentary, prod Buddy Movies, 2017, 96'
Cannes Film Festival, ACID, Lussas Documentary Film Festival, Foix Resistance Film Festival, FestFilmMaker in Milan, Festa do Cinema Francês in Lisbon, Theatrical release in France distributed by Epicentre Films; Switzerland / DVD release by Epicentre
À ciel ouvert
documentary, production Archipel 33, les films du Fleuve, Arte, CNC, Région Ile de France, RTBF, France, 2013, 130'
Gindou Film Festival, Etats Généraux du Documentaire (Lussas), Special Mention at the Traces de Vie Festival, Zurich Film Festival, DocAviv (Tel Aviv), Edoc (Quito), Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, Beijing Women’s Film Festival, Release: France, January 2014; Distribution: Happiness Distribution Belgium: Films Lumières, February 2014. International sales agent: The Party Film Sales / Released on DVD by Blaq Out
Entre nos mains
documentary, production Archipel 33, CNC, Région Centre, Région Ile de France, France, 2010, 90’
Nominated for a César Award in 2011 in the Best Documentary category, SCAM Star Award 2011, Selected for the Acid Festival in Cannes, the Etats Généraux du Documentaire (Lussas), La Rochelle, the Tübingen Film Festival, Doc Lisboa, Agadir, Buenos Aires, Lindsz… Theatrical release: France (distributed by Diaphana), Belgium / Released on DVD by Diaphana in 2011 / International sales agent: The Party Film Sales
Story of a Secret
documentary, production Archipel 35, INA, France 5, avec la participation du CNC, du Conseil Régional de Bretagne et du Conseil Général d’Ille-et-Vilaine, France, 35mm, 2003, 90'
Selected for the following festivals: Festin d'Aden, Lussas, La Rochelle, Locarno, Nyons, Buenos Aires, Women's Film Festival; Award-winning at the Valladolid, Florence, and Belo Horizonte film festivals… Theatrical release: in France in 2003 by Happiness Distribution; in Portugal and Switzerland in 2004 / International sales agent: The Party Film Sales / Released on DVD by Blaq Out in 2004
Cette télévision est la vôtre
documentary, Beta SP Prod Archipel 33- Arte-SP Films-RTBF France, 1997, 60'
Streaming on Arte, RTBF, SIC, Grêce, Hollande. Mention Spéciale au Festival de Vic Le Comte
Non lieux
documentary, co-director with Alejandra Rojo, production Varan-LA SEPT-ZDF-INA, France, 1991, 75'
Streaming on LA SEPT and LA SEPT on FR3 / Best Documentary Award at the Vaulx-en-Velin Cinema and Suburbs Film Festival
La loi du collège
documentary series, Hi8 Prod Archipel 33- Arte- Périphérie-Centre Georges Pompidou, France, 1994, 6x28'
Best Film Award at the 5th Lisbon Documentary Film Festival “Jury’s Tip” at Prix Europa, 1995 Broadcast on: Arte, Planète, La Cinquième, Switzerland… / DVD release by Blaq Out, 2008
Nous voulons un autre monde
documentary, production Agat Films &Cie, 2001, 52’
FR3 channel
I rouge, U vert, O bleu
documentary, co-director Daniele Incalcaterra, production YUMI productions, 16mm, 1987, 30'
Selected for the Festival du Cinéma du Réel - French competition
Solange ou le monde est encore loin
fiction, IDHEC, 1988, 25'
Passe et repasse
documentary, IDHEC, 1986, 20'
Vie et amour d'une femme
fiction, IDHEC, 1985, 3'
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