Úrsula Vidal

Ursula Vidal Santiago de Mendonça (born 26 January 1972) is a Brazilian journalist, filmmaker, and political activist affiliated with the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement). She is currently the Secretary of Culture for the state of Pará, having served as president of the Fórum Nacional de Secretários e Dirigentes de Cultura from 2019 to 2021.

Early life and journalism Vidal was born in Recife, Pernambuco, and moved to Belém do Pará when she was two. Her parents, João and Elisabeth, were activists in the resistance against the Brazilian military dictatorship.

When she was fifteen, Vidal began working as a radio presenter at and two other local radio stations, and at just seventeen, she had her first experience on television as a presenter for Jornal Cultura, on TV Cultura do Pará.

She studied journalism at Federal University of Pará (UFPA), and completed the course in Rio de Janeiro at Faculdade Hélio Alonso.

At university she took courses with filmmakers Eduardo Coutinho, João Moreira Salles and Walter Lima Jr., and in 1999 directed her first documentary, Marias e Josés de Nazaré, about the largest religious manifestation in Brazil, the Círio de Nazaré. As well as festivals, it was shown on television in Brazil and Portugal. She continued making films and, in 2004, directed the short film Aparência Nada +. In 2014, she co-directed the film Catadores de Sonhos with Homero Flávio. She then joined the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), Barbalho's party, and announced she would run for federal deputy.

Election results