Silvio Tendler (born 1950) is a Brazilian filmmaker. With more than 40 films released by 2014, including feature and short films,[1] Tendler is one of the most respected Brazilian documentarist.[2] Due to his focus on people like Juscelino Kubitschek, João Goulart, and Carlos Marighella, he is known as "the filmmaker of the defeated" or "the filmmaker of interrupted dreams".[1][3]
He returned from France to Brazil, and decided to make a film about Juscelino Kubitschek. It resulted in Os Anos JK – Uma Trajetória Política (1980), a box office success with 800,000 viewers.[9][10] In 1981, he directed a film about Os Trapalhões, O Mundo Mágico dos Trapalhões, which became the most watched Brazilian documentary of all time with over 1.8 million viewers.[5][11] In that same year, he created Caliban Produções Cinematográficas, a production company focused on historical biographies.[5]