Born in 1953 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, Vincent Carelli was raised in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He studied Social Sciences and began his career in indigenous advocacy as a photographer.  Subsequently, he moved into book publishing, in collaboration with the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples' Project and the Ecumenical Centre for Information and Documentation. In 1986, with the help of the Centro de Trabalho Indigenista (CTI), he established the program Video Nas Aldeias (Video in the Villages), which put documentary video at the service of indigenous cultural projects. His documentary, Meeting the Ancestors, has been shown at various festivals around the world. Today Video in the Villages became an independent NGO and he gives workshops to prepare indigenous videomakers.