Statement
Where We Come From
Growing up, my schoolmates would often say there was something wrong with me. I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a middle-class family. In public school, I was the only atheist, the only girl who did not want to become a mother, and also the only one who cared that there were almost no non-white and non-heterosexual characters on TV shows and in movies. I was an oddity to others since I myself was a white, apparently-straight person, and I was constantly made fun of, either because I was so angry over “something so stupid”, or because I went around school trying to convince others we had to change this situation.
This unsettlement came to be when I realised that LGBT people were being attacked (verbally and physically) in various social spheres, and their representation in the media only validated this violence. The fact people were okay with the things that were fundamentally wrong to me, and that they would even ridicule me for thinking so, made me furious and turned me to writing as a way to express this suffocating anger.
Today, I realise that I wanted to be a filmmaker long before I even knew I could. In the 1990s, Brazilian cinema was at a historical all-time low, with less than twenty movies coming out yearly. All everyone watched were Disney animations and American comedies. “Making-of” documentaries on TV showed successful film directors to be male, North American, and rich, which convinced me for a long time that filmmaking only existed in another reality – one I was not part of.
Filmmaking is the thing that I do when I cannot sleep at night. It is my response to a world that is constantly trying to belittle me and others like me – the “misfits”, who refuse to bow down to normativity. I took the things people said were wrong with me and turned them into movies – an act of rebellion, in a world that profits from our sense of inferiority.
Sofia Wickerhauser
Sofia Wickerhauser
Founder
Sofia Wickerhauser is a filmmaker/screenwriter, producer and game dev with a passion for Queer cinema, photography, anime and video games. With her production company White Wolfy, she is known for her sensitive eye and surprising points of view. She is currently a game designer and executive producer for "A Sunday Afternoon", a narrative puzzle selected by the SPCINE Incubator, and executive producer for "REPROACH", a beat 'em up selected by PROAC for games - both games set in the LGBTQIA+ universe.
She has directed and scripted four LGBTQIA+ short films that have screened at more than 100 festivals – like BFI Flare, Frameline, Leeds Inter, Palm Springs – and won several awards. Co-founder of AbrAce (a collective that fights for visibility regarding asexuality), in 2019 she released the short film 'Infinito Enquanto Dure', famous worldwide for being the first fictional film about asexuality.
The fangame "One Afternoon" (2023) was her first work in game scripting, creative directing and game design. This puzzle game is an exciting narrative adventure, with a protagonist who has to solve puzzles and make decisions that affect the fate of his relationship with his boyfriend.
As a film curator, she was part of the Curta Kinoforum selection committee for five years. In 2020, she joined the Mix Brasil committee (the largest LGBTQIA+ festival in Latin America) and became the curator of the LGBTQIA+ Wicked Queer festival in Boston, where she also coordinated the Latino film session. She has been screening for the Canadian Whistler Film Festival for 3 years, and has also screened for the British Norwich and Ramsgate festivals. She currently works as a distribution agent focused on short films, and has been a distribution teacher at AIC for 4 years. In 2019-2020, when she had a scholarship for a Masters in Screenwriting at Goldsmiths in London, she worked at Peccadillo Pictures, a major UK distributor, where she took part in distribution campaigns for several feature films.
Since 2021, she has been a member of the Brazilian Film Academy.
Our Partners
Meet our crew and see what makes White Wolfy unique. We are a crew of creative minds and each specializing in a different element of production.
Associate Producer
Rotatória Filmes is a production company that aims to decentralize narratives and manpower when it comes to filming in Rio, prioritizing marginalized protagonists, while also flirting with genre and amplifying social debates. It’s a production company open to diversity in every single aspect.
Based in Rio de Janeiro, activities started informally since 2014, by filming shorts without any grants or funding. This enterprise gathered recognition from the public as well as the critics. Rotatória is now producing its second project with public funding, gradually stablishing itself as a reference for local cinema far away from the clichéd views of Corcovado and Copacabana, representing a Rio ignored by popular representations.
Associate Producer
Brilo Filmes is an independent production company founded in 2019 by two Brazilian enthusiasts in love with filmmaking. Their shorts, “My Dear Anxiety” and “Breastfeeding Bats” have won awards of best film, best directing and best script, having been selected by festivals all over the world. They have also been head of publicity campaigns of branding content and have covered expos and events related to the audiovisual sector.
Lavanda Films
Associate Producer
Lavanda Films is a Brazilian film company, that stands for "Acting For Diversity" and since 2011 has been contributing to the formation of culture, investing in Theater and Cinema. Lavanda Filma is co-producer of Akira Kamiki's award-winning "Poente" (Afterglow). With collaborators in several countries, and has been working for a more diverse and multicultural cinema.
Producer / Editor
Thiago debuted with "Thy Kingdom Come" (2014), following with "Melody of Darkness" (2016) and "Before Today" (2017). Through his perspective as a gay man in Rio de Janeiro’s faraway suburbs, he portrayed local LGBTQ and social struggles. Thiago was invited to direct "Drawing" (2018) after an LA screening of his previous work and later that year would start his company, Rotatória Filmes. In 2020 “Memoirs of the (non) existent me” would be finished, his 5th short movie.
His work has been constantly awarded. One of his biggest achievements was at Gramado, Brazil's most traditional film festival. His shorts were selected throughout 25+ countries, in festivals such as Inside Out Toronto, Outfest, Chicago Latino, and broadcasted on TV.
Victor R. Fernandes
Graphic Designer
Graduated in Fine Arts by FAAP in 2001, Victor Fernandes worked with publicity until focusing on Art Direction, where he currently works as a Graphic Designer since 2017. His credits include the TV series ‘Assedio’ (O2/Globo), ‘Rotas do Ódio’ (Panorâmica/Universal Channel), ‘O Zoo da Zu’ (Boutique Filmes/Discovery Kids) and ‘Mauá’ - O Primeiro Gigante (Boutique/History Channel) – and of course, ‘Top 10 Places to Visit in Sao Paulo’, after meeting Sofia Wickerhauser at the Academia Internacional de Cinema (International Academy of Cinema), where he studied Art Direction and also Direction of Photography.
Translation and Subtitling
Born in Brasília, with a degree in journalism, fluent in English (owns IELTS certificate), did some extracurricular courses in filmmaking during college and in 2017 moved to Sao Paulo to study film directing at the Academia Internacional de Cinema (International Academy of Cinema). Worked as an assistant director at the independent feature film Sobre Nos (About Us) in 2016, worked with the same production company as a producer in theater plays in Recife, Goiania, Brasilia and Sao Paulo. In 2017 worked at short films with production, assistant director, editing and wrote her first script. In 2018 started working with English-Portuguese subtitles and is currently working on two scripts.
Producer
Gabriel Gomes graduated in Journalism in 2013. Worked for four years in communication in press offices, magazines editing, marketing assistance, TV production and directing for live shows, and news feeding for websites. Also graduated in film at the Academia Internacional de Cinema (AIC), in 2018. Worked as producer in four short movies and as director assistant in one of them. His graduation project was the short film “Breastfeeding Bats” that had the goal to show how conservative ideals influences kids. Currently, works in independent projects that tries to represent how singular each person is in his characters.
Filmmaker/Graphic Designer
Paulo Ernesto graduated in International Relations from the Federal University of Uberlandia, where he also studied film and Hollywood cinema. He worked for production companies in Uberlândia and Goiânia as a videomaker, designer, and creator of digital content. Having graduated at the International Film Academy (2018), he has written and directed several independent shorts. He was the graphic designer for the films “How She Looks”, “My Dear Anxiety”, “Haiku from a Dead Poet” and “Dusty Giant”, and has also developed bibles for Brazilian series and films.
Olavo Ribeiro
Editor
Olavo Ribeiro is a Brazilian film editor. He graduated in Communication and Multi-media from PUC-SP and in Film Directing from Academia Internacional de Cinema (International Academy of Cinema). He edited more than 15 short films and the feature documentary ‘Somos Todos Estrangeiros’, which screened at the 40th São Paulo International Film Festival. In 2019, he was part of the HBO series “Hard” (2019) and also directed his first short "How She Looks”
Yan Della Torre
Script Writer / Casting Director
Screenwriter Specialist in Script Writing, at London City Academy, UK, and graduated in Theater. He was an Assistant Screenwriter of Screenwriter Jaqueline Vargas. He was a Walt Disney World Cast Member, in Florida, where he was trained at Disney Traditions at Disney University. He has participated in Workshops with the British Playwright Frazer Flintham, with the Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, with the Screenwriter Janes V. Hart, with the Authors Thelma Guedes and Duca Rachid, with the Screenwriter Leandro Saraiva, with the Executive Producer Simon Eagan, with the Art Producer Brigitte Broch, with the Actress Geraldine Chaplin, with Actor Louis Garrel. He is the CEO of Lavanda Films, and has been in the market since 1998.