[1][3] Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1950,[4] Tendler is graduated in History at the Paris Diderot University (1975), majored in Cinema and History at the École pratique des hautes études in Sorbonne (1976), and especialized in Documentary Cinema Applied to Social Sciences at the Musée Guimet in Sorbonne (1973).

[5] During his stay in France, he worked on the collaborative documentary La spirale in 1975 with several directors, among them Chris Marker.

[6] The acquaintanceship with Marker and other filmmakers, including Jean Rouch, Wladimir Carvalho, Santiago Álvarez and Joris Ivens is remarked by Tendler.

It resulted in Os Anos JK – Uma Trajetória Política (1980), a box office success with 800,000 viewers.

[5][11] In that same year, he created Caliban Produções Cinematográficas, a production company focused on historical biographies.