Maria Luisa Mendonça is a journalist and co-director of the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights (Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos) in Brazil. She was one of the founders of the World Social Forum, and is currently a member of its Organizing Committee. She participates in other networks, such as the Land Research Action Network and the Global Campaign for Agrarian Reform. She is the editor of the annual report Human Rights in Brazil, published in Portuguese and English by the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights.

She has produced several video documentaries, which were presented on television stations and festivals in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Latin America. Some of them are: Instants (documentary about a Chilean family in exile in the US, awarded by the Film Arts Foundation); Islands on Fire (a three-part series about human rights issues in Indonesia and East Timor, presented by PBS stations in the United States and awarded by the Bay Guardian); Global Economy and Democracy: An Interview with Noam Chomsky; Strong Roots, a documentary about land struggles in Brazil, which was awarded at the Toronto Film Festival, The Los Angeles Latino Film Festival, and the Bahia International Film Festival; and Sugar Slaves, a documentary about sugarcane workers in Brazil.

Topics covered

• Human Rights in Brazil
• Sugarcane Workers
• Global Economy & Democracy