Ricardo Mendonça de França is a Brazilian filmmaker from Rio de Janeiro. He studied Cinema and Audiovisual at Universidade Federal Fluminense, and received a federal grant to complete part of his education at Vassar College and the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He founded Zooey, a small production company, to produce short films dedicated to the dramas of ordinary Brazilians. He served as a writer and director in two short films — O Dia Invisível (The Invisible Day), based on his grandmother’s personal recollections of the 1964 military coup, and Report 01, a fake sci-fi documentary about how much he hates cars. Ricardo also served as director of photography in other short films, including Duas Lâminas (Two Blades) and Brooklyn in Rio, and as an assistant director on numerous TV GLOBO projects. In 2019, he debuted in television directing in Orfãos da Terra (Orphans of a Nation), a telenovela produced by TV GLOBO which won the International Emmy Award for best telenovela, the Rose d’Or award for best telenovela, and the Grand Prix at the Seoul Drama Awards. Bestiário (Bestiary), his first feature film project, a co-production between Raccord Produções and TvZero, won the 2020 New Original Scripts competition, promoted by the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Institute of Brazilian Audiovisual Content (ICAB) and the Brazilian Audiovisual Secretariat (SAV).

Bestiário (Bestiary) — To change the course of their lives, Daniel and Ágatha decide to rob the hospital where she works. When everything goes terribly wrong, they end up beaten, robbed and with their daughter seriously injured. Now, between guilt and despair, Daniel sets out on a journey through the city to try to save his family from the tragedy he created.