Flavio Alves

Flavio's most recent film, The Garden Left Behind, is his first feature-length project and stars Michael Madsen and Ed Asner. The film was well received in the media, and was widely praised for having a strong trans representation in front of and behind the camera, including the lead, Carlie Guevara. The Garden Left Behind premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2019, where it won the Audience Award.

In 2018, Alves was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center to the Artist Academy. The program is designed to support the next generation of filmmakers from a variety of backgrounds as they develop their careers and build audiences within the film community.

Flavio lives in Forest Hills, New York. In April 2010, Alves became a US citizen. As of 2013, he has been a member of the National Board of Review. In 2012, Grupo Gay da Bahia, the oldest LGBTQ advocacy association in Brazil, awarded Alves, among 21 other militants, an honorary title recognizing his sacrifices and contributions to the LGBTQ community.

In 2007, Alves left politics and enrolled at New York University to study film production. While there he wrote and directed, Even in My Dreams, which received the Technisphere Award from NYU for best student film, and was screened at a variety of film festivals around the world. The film was also the winner of the Golden Palm Award at the 2009 Mexico International Film Festival, and the Golden Ace Award at the 2009 Las Vegas International Film Festival. In June 2010, Flavio released his short film The Secret Friend, starring Viola Harris and Siobhan Fallon in the major roles. The film received multiple awards and nominations after its premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2010, where it was chosen as Best of the Fest. Alves also directed the award-winning short film, Tom in America (2014), starring Academy Award nominees, Burt Young and Sally Kirkland, has been screened at over 140 film festivals worldwide, and was also featured on the cable network HereTV.

Alves was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and served the Brazilian navy for several years before coming to America in 1997. He was granted political asylum in the United States in 1998 based on political opinion and sexual orientation after he wrote the book, Toque de Silêncio ("Call to Silence", 1997), describing his life as a gay man in the Brazilian navy. His request was granted because, according to Alves, he received death threats upon publishing his book. Although various human rights organizations, LGBT activists, and former São Paulo mayor Marta Suplicy supported his claim, it has also divided the Brazilian gay community. He attended Columbia University in New York City, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science. In the early 2000s he worked as an assistant for then-Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and then-New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Flávio Pimenta Alves (born 30 November 1969) is a Brazilian writer, screenwriter, and film director resident in America since 1998. His movies consistently feature elderly characters as protagonists. He is best known for the film The Garden Left Behind starring Michael Madsen, Ed Asner and Carlie Guevara.