Maria das Dores de Oliveira (Maria Pankararú) is a scholar and linguist Indigenous to the Pankararú  people (Pernambuco - Brazil). She is a retired professor from the National Foundation of the Indian-FUNAI, with her last assignment at the Local Technical Coordination of Ilhéus / Bahia, where she developed activities related to public policies for school education for Indigenous peoples, especially the Tupinambá people with whom she worked since 2010 until 2018. She has several published articles related to his research with the Ofayé language.

She has been a collaborator with the NGO Thydêwá since 2010, with participation in the INDIO EDUCA initiative - 'About History and Indigenous Cultures' to support students and teachers about the Brazilian indigenous reality, in compliance with Law 11,645; in the editorial collection 'Indians in the view of the Indians', in the production of RADIA WEB VIM VIM and; as co-creators, she joins other Indigenous people and artists in the AEI - Arte Eletrônica Indígena project.

Maria co-directed her first film: 'Messages from the Earth' in partnership with Sebastián Gerlic in 2020

Sebastián Gerlic studied cinema and video in his hometown, Buenos Aires - Argentina; where he also worked in the feature film industry and in advertising. He moved to Brazil in 1994 to get deeper into shamanism. In the year 2000, he left aside advertising and started to facilitate an “Art and Communication” Workshop for indigenous peoples. Together with indigenous and non-indigenous friends, in 2002 he founded the NGO Thydêwá. At the NGO he conceives and executes projects such as: Indians in the view of the Indians, Indians Online, Esperança da Terra and Electronic Art Indigenous.