Hello! My name is Bianca Mikahil and I am a Brazilian dance artist based in London. Alongside the cinematographers Luiza Garcia and Fernanda Rocha, we are raising funds to cover the production costs of the dance film “Spot”, to be filmed in Brazil in September and October 2025.

“Spot” is born from a personal and professional unease, stemming from the way Brazilian culture is represented abroad. In spite of its international artistic strength, Brazilian expressions are still often stereotyped and not recognized for their full creative, political, and cultural potential. "Spot" creates a dialogue between this shared feeling and how I, as a female immigrant artist, relate to the expression of my own culture while living in Europe.

Through the meeting of dance and film, this project aims to investigate themes such as immigration, belonging, cultural barrier, resistance and creative expression. Through creating an artistic bridge between Brazil and the UK, we aim to reflect on what we bring with us when living abroad; our rhythms, sounds and memories, and how everything gets reframed when taken away from its original context. We aim to highlight Brazilian cultural expressions, such as forró and ginga, and through the use of an analogy of a caged spotted jaguar (native to Brazil), we aim to represent what it often feels like to be an immigrant abroad - a constant search for the feeling of belonging.

I seek to develop a work that engages with the idea of repetition as a choreographic and symbolic language - that which is infinitely recreated but never repeated identically. Through the use of reflective language, a video can be played repeatedly, infinitely, but interpreted differently depending on the audience and context. Just like the experience of being an immigrant: we carry with us references, rhythms, gestures, and meanings, but the re-encounter with these expressions outside their original context always generates new layers of perception, isolation, and redefinition.

“Spot” is also a step towards supporting a team of independent young female artists that work together in the choreography, direction and production of the project, working towards bringing a spotlight to Brazilian culture in spaces that are often reproducing it through a Eurocentric lens.

Your contribution will help us cover the costs of:

Production:

Equipment rental

Costume

Space rental

Extras

Food and transportation for the crew

Post production:

Video editing

Sound design

Color grading

Original soundtrack or music rights

Translation and subtitling (PT-EN)

Distribution in festivals and registrations

The project was approved in the first round for the Pitch Call Out from Mid SP (São Paulo International Dance Festival) and we are waiting for the next steps for a possible funding. Despite of result, the project is happening independently between September and the start of October 2025, so every kind of support - small or big - is a massive step towards the making of this film!

Bianca Mikahil

My name is Bianca Mikahil, I am a Brazilian dance artist, currently based in London. I studied at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, and in 2021, worked as a choreographer for the National Youth Ballet. In 2022/2023, I worked as an apprentice dancer for National Dance Company Wales, alongside finishing my Master’s with Northern School of Contemporary Dance. More recently, I finished a 3 year international tour performing for Akram Khan’s Jungle Book Reimagined.

I moved to London at the age of 18 to study dance, following my next steps of my career also in Europe. I have always felt a sort of unease in regards to my feeling of belonging, and I bring with me in my work a big influence of Brazilian culture; through music, politics, ginga or simply in the way I express myself.

From a personal experience, “Spot” was born when I had to pause my career and go back to Brazil to recover from an injury in 2024. Without any planning or expectations, I found myself back in my home country for most of the year - something I hadn’t experienced since I left, 6 years ago. In the first couple of months I found myself uncomfortable in social situations, almost forgetting how to act Brazilian next to Brazilians - something that words could never explain. Slowly, I understood I needed to light up the instinctive match of my culture that lived inside me, and eight months later when I returned to the UK, I went through a process I had never gone through before: I needed to reconnect with the feeling of being away from my culture, but this time seeing it as a choice - and understanding the Brazilian fire within me will always walk by my side.

The partnership with the cinematographers Luiza Garcia and Fernanda Rocha comes from an emerging artistic context, aiming to develop a project produced entirely by young independent female artists. In March 2025, we began our journey together through a photoshoot which research extends itself to this project.

Fernanda Rocha

My name is Fernanda, I am 25 and gradutated in Photography from Panamerican School of Art and Design, in São Paulo. My journey through the film industry begins in 2020 and passes through different roles - from cinematography, to script, to production and photography - having signed as production coordinator for the independent short film “Intimidade" (Intimacy), coming out in 2026.

I am interested in collaborative processes and projects that are born from the restlesness and necessity to say something, even when the funds are not there; as a "Jack-of-all-trades", I like to show up for projects and work across different mediums.

Creating is a natural thing for human beings. We see the world and through that, develop our own perceptions, that can and can not be transformed into something physical, tangible. With me, it couldn’t be different. I am a creature of the world, and through that, I was born to create. Writing allows me to be raw and intimately connect with others. Photography allows me to show the world how what I see can be different from what is perceived. Film is where I embrace the universe with the short arms of someone who loves to learn, becoming just one more thinking mind in the vast team behind a film's production. And so it goes, because in reality, I am willing to do anything; any way of sharing who I am and what I feel.

I believe “Spot”, by Bianca Mikahil, is one of those projects that deserve to exist because it creates an urgent dialogue about identity, belonging and the importance of Brazilian culture in the world. To be part of this project is also to put my energy into something that breaks frontiers, connects with different journeys and, at the same time, reaffirms who we are and where we come from.

https://fernandadarocha.com.br/

Luiza Garcia

I am Luiza Garcia, working in the audiovisual field across various roles, from directing and executive production to cinematography and art direction. I have experience in production companies such as O2 Filmes, Pródigo, and Landia.

In my personal work, I directed the short film Intimidade (Intimacy), co-written with Julio D’Avila and produced by Fernanda Rocha, that will be released by 2026. I also worked as the director of photography for Woman in Fields, directed by Gabriela Guimarães, a short film supported by Columbia University.

I have a deep interest in collective processes, where each stage is built through exchange and listening. Since my first collaboration with Bianca Mikahil and Fernanda Rocha, we’ve found a rare fluidity, where the process became just as important as the outcome. It is this movement that we now bring to Spot, a project that transcends borders and is grounded in Brazilian identity to engage with the world.

For me, creating is about transforming observation into gesture, thought into image. I seek works born from unease that resonate with those who watch them.

luizagarcia.myportfolio.com