Portugal native Laura Carreira was studying film in Lisbon when her teacher mentioned there was a good film school in Scotland. After a visit, Carreira decided her tutor was right.

On finishing an audiovisual communication degree at the Antonio Arroio School of Arts in Lisbon, Carreira graduated with a degree in film directing from Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. “I’ve been in Edinburgh now for 10 years,” she says. “I came to study and I never left.”

As a European, Carreira believes international opportunities are possible from Scotland. She is currently developing her first feature film On Falling, which will be produced by Ken Loach and Rebecca O’Brien’s Sixteen Films and Portugal’s BRO Cinema.

Supported by Portuguese national funding agency ICA, the BFI and Wild Bunch, On Falling details the story of a Portuguese migrant living in Scotland and working in an Amazon-style warehouse, who encounters a problem with her wage packet that lands her in social and financial turmoil.

“I see the feature as the continuation of my two short films about work and people’s relationship to it,” she explains.

Carreira’s short films Red Hill and The Shift revolve around workers in financially precarious situations. She self-financed Red Hill and “got loads of favours from friends” while convincing established actor Billy Mack (The Crown) to be part of it. The film garnered positive notices when it debuted at Clermont-­Ferrand International Short Film Festival. It was nominated for the 2019 Bafta Scotland award for best short, longlisted for the 2019 Bifa awards and won a New Visions award at Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The same year saw Carreira selected for the BellRock writing programme, to develop her first feature, and she also took part in the BellRock directors’ workshop run by Sundance Filmmakers Lab’s artistic director Gyula Gazdag.

Her second short film The Shift, commissioned by Scottish Film Talent Network New Shorts 2019-20, debuted at Venice in 2020 and won the festival’s nomination for the European Film Awards. She is already working on her second feature script.

Contact: Laura Carreira 

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