ABOUT US

Who we are

Atenea Films, led by directors Manuela López and Exequiel Caldas, began its journey in 2019 with the conviction that cinema can be a tool for environmental and social transformation.

From the very beginning, we set out to tell stories that explore the relationship between humans and nature, giving voice to communities, territories and ecosystems that rarely reach the big screen. We believe in a cinema that not only portrays the climate crisis, but also imagines possible futures.

Over the years we have produced documentaries, fiction and transmedia projects that have traveled through national and international festivals, allowing us to build alliances with environmental organizations, indigenous communities and other audiovisual collectives across Latin America and the world.

Our gaze combines documentary rigor with a deep aesthetic search, understanding that environmental stories deserve to be told with the same beauty and complexity as any great human narrative.

At Atenea Films we work collaboratively, horizontally and with commitment. Every project is an opportunity to learn, to listen, and to leave a positive mark on the planet.

Exequiel Caldas

Born in Uruguay in 1971, he was exiled to Sweden with his family at the age of 8. There he forged a strong bond with nature. He settled in Málaga in 1999 and has since worked in audiovisual productions for TV, cinema and advertising. For a decade he was an intimate collaborator of Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco, working alongside whom he considers his mentor on a dozen films.

He has produced dozens of institutional and corporate videos, around twenty advertising spots, as well as several documentaries and fiction short films. In Uruguay he has worked mainly as an editor for channels 12, 10 and TV Ciudad. In 2016 he graduated from the Faculty of Information Sciences (FIC-UDELAR).

In recent years he has devoted himself to making nature and environmental documentaries from an artistic perspective, seeking to contribute to a paradigm shift that strips modern humans of the anthropocentrism they have historically carried. Together with Manuela López, he runs the production company Atenea Films, with which they have developed several projects such as the series Hábitat (Uruguay), made with the support of ACAU and FONA, and the exhibition El Garzal, which received support from ACAU in the Other Formats category. He is currently devoted to the development of this feature film, and to the production of the series Montevideo - al vuelo, which has the support of FONA, as well as writing the screenplay for a fiction feature film titled "Nohán", an environmental drama.

Manuela López Quiroga

Born in Treinta y Tres, Uruguay, during the military dictatorship, in 1975. She holds a Degree in Photography —Faculty of Arts—. She was part of the teaching team as a collaborator for two years in the Cinematographic Photography and Photography courses at the Faculty of Information and Communication (FIC - UDELAR). She worked in visual design and communication for many years.

Her interest in photography led her to create fiction and documentary audiovisual pieces together with Exequiel Caldas. She was part of the interdisciplinary team contributing from photography to the documentary Donde estemos Juntas: Hogar Yaguarón (Sitio de Memoria), directed by Laura Castillo. This documentary won the competitive fund for memory sites, corresponding to the National Institution of Human Rights and Ombudsperson.

As co-director of the production company Atenea Films, she has directed and produced the medium-length film Vuelvo al Sur (vuelvoalsur.uy) and the TV series Hábitat (Uruguay), premiered in 2024. In April 2025, the photographic and sound exhibition El Garzal opened. They were awarded in Santiago de Chile with the Puma de los Andes, at the Santiago Wild Film Festival (2025). She is currently devoted to the development of Arerunguá and producing the series Montevideo al vuelo.

In August 2025, she joined a multidisciplinary team at the Faculty of Sciences, within the IM-UdelaR project "Promoviendo mejoras ambientales en parques urbanos de Montevideo a través de la ciencia ciudadana y las aves silvestres". Her work is linked to the creation of the book Montevideo - Ciudad de aves.