Carlos Morelli

Carlos Morelli came to cinema sideways. First he was a violinist — trained at the Simón Bolívar conservatory in Venezuela, first violin in youth orchestras across Uruguay and Argentina. In 1999, a screenwriting course changed the direction entirely. What didn't change was the way he listens: for rhythm, for the weight of silence, for what happens in the space between two moments. He completed a BA in Audiovisual Production at Universidad ORT Uruguay, then a Master's in Feature Film Screenwriting at ESCAC in Barcelona (2004).

His early short films moved immediately. Alguien debe morir (2002) screened in Official Competition at Rotterdam. Breve historia de cómo se conocieron... took multiple first prizes at Rotterdam, Leeds, and Tampere — and began a consistent pattern: comedies that open onto something more uncomfortable, dramas with a lightness that keeps them from collapse. In 2004, the Berlinale Talent Campus. In 2005, Artist-in-Residence at the Modern Art Museum of Shanghai.

From 2005 to 2009 he taught dramaturgy at the University of Guadalajara. In 2008, the DAAD Berlin Artists Programme brought him to Germany — and he stayed. The short film Warisover, made during that residency, won the ARTE Short Film Award at Filmfest Hamburg 2011.

Mi Mundial (2017) was his feature debut — the highest-grossing Uruguayan film in cinema history. Der Geburtstag (2019) followed: a black-and-white film noir made for ZDF. Bauchgefühl (2024), a documentary co-directed with Andrés Varela, is his third feature. Full details, press, and trailers are in the filmography above.

He has worked as writer-director on two episodes of Temporario (Canal 10 Uruguay, created by Esther Feldman). Six projects are currently in active development with financing from Uruguay, Germany, and the UK. He teaches Screenwriting and Directing at SRH University Berlin and at the DFFB — and has taught across Spain, Mexico, Chile, China, and Uruguay.