Sofia Mendes Lara is an up-and-coming animator, writer and director from Uberlândia, Brasil. At a young age, her dream of being a storyteller led her to pursue animation as a career. At Escola Artística António Arroio's Multimedia course, her work stood out from the rest of the class and earned her a spot at the Monstra Animation Festival 2026 Jury, Portugal's biggest animation competition. Her studies and experience refined her skills and led to her signature style of traditional frame-by-frame animation mixed with experimental visuals, leading her to participate in various film and animation festivals.
2026, Lisbon
Junior jury in the student category
2025-2026, Lisbon
Image Direction Assistant
2025-Current, Lisbon
Video capture and editing
Guest jury at the showcase, where she attended all screenings of the student short film competition category, selecting the award winners.
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Assisted photographers and editors in the capture and post-production of audiovisual content for social media, also working as a photographer in photo sessions and editing promotional videos.
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Capturing images and videos of events and surgeries, editing them so they can later be used to enhance educational training sessions and provide content for social media.
2026-Current, Lisbon
2025-2026, Lisbon
Studies Digital Animation at Lusófona University and is currently in the first year of the program.
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Studied Audiovisuals, specializing in Multimedia with a focus on animation. Developed a film and animation showcase with special guests as part of the elective subject Arts Management, serving as its director.
2026, Lisbon
Practical and technical training (8 hours) in stop-motion animation, focusing on software such as Dragonframe and exploring abstract techniques.
2024, Canada
Summer course in Game Design, where small games were developed, learning programming and 3D modeling using software such as Unreal and Maya.
Adobe After Effects | Adobe Premiere | Dragonframe Photoshop |Adobe Audition | Microsoft Office Suite
Visual storytelling | Team leadership Autonomy | Video editing | Production organization | Teamwork
Portuguese (native) | English (C1)
Penistone Film Festival, 2026, Penistone, United Kingdom | Animanie, 2026 Pilsen, Czech Republic |
First-Time Sessions Volume 7, 2026, United Kingdom