Joel Zito Araújo is a Brazilian film director, writer and producer of films and TV programs. Since 1984, Araújo has produced one feature film, two short films and 25 documentaries. Some of these works have won prizes or been selected for screeningd at film festivals throughout the world. From 2006 to 2007, Araújo was president of the Brazilian Filmmakers Association. He received his Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the Escola de Comunicações e Artes at the University of São Paulo in 1999. He was Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Professor in the Departments of Radio, TV, and Film and Anthropology as well as the Center for African & African-American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin from August 2001 to May 2002.
Daughters of the Wind won eight prizes at the 32nd Gramado Film Festival in August 2004. Awarded by that Festival jury, the prizes were: Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Film by the Critics Review. This film also received the Best Film award at the 8th Mostra de Filme de Tiradentes, Minas Gerais in January 2005 and the Best Full-Length Script award at the Second Paratycine Festival, 2005. It also earned the Best Actor and Best Actress awards from the Festival de Cinema de Macapá, in 2005.
Cinderellas, Wolves and one Enchanted Prince was awarded an Honorable Mention at the X BrasíliaInternational Film Festival in 2008. It also received the Best Film and the Best Director awards at the 9th Iberoamerican Film Festival of Sergipe in 2009, and the Best Full-Length Documentary prize and Honourable Mention from Jury at the VII Mostra Vidas na Tela – Natal. 2009.
Denying Brazil was awarded a prize by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, which sponsored the 1999 National Documentary Competition. In 2001, this film received the "Best Brazilian Film award", "the Best Research award" and the Quanta Prize at the 6th International Documentary Festival It's All True- É Tudo Verdade, a Festival that takes place in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It also earned the “Gilberto Freire Film” award and "Best Full-Length Documentary Script award" from the 5th Recife Film Festival in 2001.
