In 2012, in partnership with Sun Dog Pictures, owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, the documentary was adapted into an international version which was narrated by actor Morgan Freeman.
Other works include the documentary Wandering Heart, with Caetano Veloso, and a number of publicity campaign for big brands such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Volkswagen.
In 2011, he released his documentary Quebrando o Tabu, which discusses alternative policies to the War on Drugs and features former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso as the host.
Shot in 18 cities around the world with locations that range from poppy plantations owned by the FARCs to the coffeeshops in Amsterdam, the feature still has testimonials from prominent personalities such as former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, former Colombian president César Gaviria, former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castañeda, infectologist Dráuzio Varella, writer Paulo Coelho as well as police officers, inmates and drug addicts in rehab.
The movie had big repercussions in Brazil, catalyzing debates in the media, in schools and even in Brazilian Congress, with a speech by Senator Eduardo Suplicy.
The show Quebrando o Tabu received the Mipcom Award in 2019 in Cannes and the Gold World Medal in the Social Issues category at the New York TV and Film Festival 2019.
Each episode deals with a controversial theme, such as abortion, prostitution, privacy, privatizations, democracy and racism, and features specialists who help to expose a constructive discussion around each topic.
Featuring filmmakers Michelangelo Antonioni and Pedro Almodóvar and songwriter David Byrne, the documentary was released by Paramount in Brazil.
In 2010, Fernando directed a short-length documentary called Jornal do Futuro, which registered the changes in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo during the launching of their own online platform, Folha.com.
In 2014, Fernando participated in a project created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the NGO Instituto Criar, directing the feature Na Quebrada, partnering up with Globo Filmes.
Based on real events, the movie follows a group of low-income youngsters such as Júnior, who has a talent to fix broken TVs, Zeca, who witnessed a slaughter, Joana, a girl who dreams about her unknown mother, and Gerson, whose father has been in jail since he was born.
He also directed music clips, such as “Estranho Jeito de Amar” for Brazilian duo Sandy & Junior, in 2006, and “Eu, você, o mar e ela”, by Luan Santana, in 2016.
Fernando was chosen in 2019 a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, placing him in a group that includes French president Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand Prime-Minister Jacinda Ardern, the former US presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, among others.
He is also a co-founder of the educational initiative Mapa Educação, together with current representatives in the Brazilian Congress Tabata Amaral and Renan Ferreirinha.
The movement has actively demanded politicians to comply with their views and promises to better education in Brazil, and has mobilized people from all regions of the country.
Fernando is the founder of Spray Media, a production company behind a variety of feature and short-length films, publicity campaigns and content in a range of diverse formats.
In 2014, for example, he was invited to speak at Harvard University at the Igniting Innovation Summit on Social Entrepreneurship, where he presented a short film about his work that has over 700,000 views.
His coming out video, “Cê já se sentiu um ET?”, was the subject of a column by journalist Mônica Bergamo, occupying a full page on Folha de S. Paulo in 2017.
[10] Fernando was later interviewed at Rede Globo's Conversa com Bial and on two of GNT's variety shows: Saia Justa and Papo de Segunda.
Fernando is the son of PhD urbanist Marta Dora Grostein and journalist Mario Escobar de Andrade, director of Playboy magazine in Brazil, who died in 1991.