Fernando Grostein Andrade

Fernando Grostein Andrade (born January 30, 1981, in São Paulo) is a Brazilian filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, director of photography, and media entrepreneur.

He is a columnist for VEJA magazine and the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

His best-known work is the documentary Quebrando o Tabu, which discusses alternative policies to the War on Drugs and features former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso as well as former US presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, infectologist Drauzio Varella and writer Paulo Coelho.

In 2001, Fernando directed his first short film, named De Morango.

It introduced actor Guilherme Berenguer, who co-starred with Fernanda Rodrigues and Daniel Dantas.

The short film also opened the Brasília International Film Festival, the São Paulo International Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.

Fernando graduated in Business Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas in 2003.

Later, he completed directing and screenwriting courses at CINUSP, University of Southern California (USC) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He started his career in communication working at the agency DM9DDB and at broadcast station Rádio Jovem Pan 2, at 15 years old.

When he was 16, he would write articles and chronicles for Playboy and Trip magazines.

In 2003, Fernando embarked on a tour with musician Caetano Veloso through São Paulo, New York and Japan.

The project was called Wandering Heart.

For 42 days, he documented the artist's discomfort with the success of his first English-language album released internationally, revealing another side of the composer.

Featuring filmmakers Michelangelo Antonioni and Pedro Almodóvar and songwriter David Byrne, the documentary was released by Paramount in Brazil.

Written, produced and edited by Fernando, it was screened at the It's All True Festival and in the Rome Film Festival in 2008.

According to Eric J. Lyman, from The Hollywood Reporter, it was one of the “weekend highlights ”.

In 2011, he released his documentary Quebrando o Tabu, which discusses alternative policies to the War on Drugs and features former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso as the host.

Shot in 18 cities around the world with locations that range from poppy plantations owned by the FARCs to the coffeeshops in Amsterdam, the feature still has testimonials from prominent personalities such as former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, former Colombian president César Gaviria, former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castañeda, infectologist Dráuzio Varella, writer Paulo Coelho as well as police officers, inmates and drug addicts in rehab.

The documentary was later adapted for European and American audiences by producer Richard Branson, with the title Breaking the Taboo. That version is narrated by Morgan Freeman and features Gael García Bernal.

The movie was awarded the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro.

The movie had big repercussions in Brazil, catalyzing debates in the media, in schools and even in Brazilian Congress, with a speech by Senator Eduardo Suplicy.

Veja magazine published a 9-page article which characterized the film as a “meticulous report done in 2 years with 168 interviews with notable personalities”.

Rede Globo’s prime-time variety show Fantástico exhibited an 8-minute segment about the film and made a poll with the viewers.

57% of them favored legalization of drugs.

The documentary was also subject of a cover story of Trip magazine.

It received very positive reviews from national and international publications, such as Folha de S. Paulo and The Guardian.

Later, it became influent brand of Brazilian independent media.

Created by Fernando, it is today the largest online platform in defense of human rights, with the highest Facebook involvement rate in Brazilian media and 15 million followers between Facebook and Instagram.

In 2012, in partnership with Sun Dog Pictures, owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, the documentary was adapted into an international version which was narrated by actor Morgan Freeman.

The project has spun off into the largest online platform in defense for human rights, with over 15 million followers between Facebook and Instagram.

In 2018, the Quebrando o Tabu project unfolded yet again into a documentary TV series, in which Fernando works as a show runner.

Abe, his most recent movie, was selected to the Sundance Film Festival in 2019, and stars Noah Schnapp and Seu Jorge.

Fernando was also selected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2019.

He is a founder of Spray Media, which produces content for cinema as well as YouTube and branded content.

Other works include the documentary Wandering Heart, with Caetano Veloso, and a number of publicity campaign for big brands such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Volkswagen.

The show Quebrando o Tabu received the Mipcom Award in 2019 in Cannes and the Gold World Medal in the Social Issues category at the New York TV and Film Festival 2019.

In the same year, it was broadcast by Brazilian network GNT.

Each episode deals with a controversial theme, such as abortion, prostitution, privacy, privatizations, democracy and racism, and features specialists who help to expose a constructive discussion around each topic.

Currently, the show is in its second season.

Fernando is also the creator of the series, and has directed 8 episodes.