ABOUT
Some of Carolina’s past credits include serving as the DP of Tara Miele’s film WANDER DARKLY, starring Diego Luna and Sienna Miller, which premiered at Sundance 2022; Minhal Baig and Jada Pinkett.Smith’s coming-of-age film HALA, that premiered at Sundance 2019; Tinder’s first interactive series SWIPE NIGHT directed by Karena Evans; the fiction narrative film ICEBOX produced by three-time Oscar winning producer James L. Brooks’, which premiered at TIFF 2018; the multiple award-winning feature CRYSTAL SWAN directed by Darya Zhuk; the award-winning film THEY, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival; Max Winkler’s Tribeca film, FLOWER, starring Zoey Deutch; the horror, thriller film THE EVIL HERITAGE (LA HERENCIA DE MAL); and BABENCO: TELL ME WHEN I DIE from director Bárbara Paz which premiered at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and took home the Best Documentary Award.
Carolina’s first feature as a cinematographer, THE CHOSEN ONES with director David Pablos, premiered at Cannes. The film won five Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences’ Ariel Awards, including Carolina’s Ariel Award for Best Cinematography. Her work was additionally praised by The Hollywood Reporter as “a handsomely shot feature.”
In 2020, Carolina and Pablos reunited on the Netflix film, DANCE OF THE 41. Additionally, Carolina handled second-unit cinematography and B-camera for Luca Guadagnino's critically-acclaimed SUSPIRIA, starring Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson. She also lensed several episodes of the HBO Emmy award-winning series INSECURE.
Originally from Brazil, Carolina studied at the University of the Arts, London, where she was mentored by Sue Gibson, the renowned first female president of the British Society of Cinematographers. Costa then moved to Los Angeles and earned her Masters in Cinematography from the American Film Institute. Her AFI thesis film WAY IN RYE went on to compete at Camerimage in Poland, followed by her AFI alumni short CONTRAPELO which premiered at Tribeca before being shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
Selected as one of American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of 2018, Carolina Costa has traveled the world lensing critically-acclaimed feature films, documentaries and TV shows.
In 2023 Carolina won the Zeiss award for best cinematography at SXSW for Erica Tremblay's FANCY DANCE, which had a premiere at Sundance. In that same Sundance she had another film - HEROIC - by Mexican director David Zonana, with whom Carolina previously collaborated with on WORK FORCE.
Last year she also won the award for best cinematography at Tribeca for the feature THE GRADUATES from director Hannah Peterson and executive producer Chloe Zhao.
Carolina won the Women in Media + ZEISS Altitude Award and was on Variety’s list of “10 Latinxs To Watch in 2020”.
Carolina served as the DP and shot the pilot episode for the Amazon Freevee series HIGH SCHOOL from award-winning director Clea Duvall, produced by Plan B Entertainment. She has teamed up again with Plan B producers and recently lensed the new film by Fernando Eimcke.