Born in São Paulo, Brazil. She studied film at FAAP and made the short film "Something Like That" (2006) with Esmir Filho, selected at Critics` Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 where it won Best Screenplay. In 2018, they made a homonymous feature film based on the short film. She also made short films like "Not Far From Anywhere" (2007) and "Seven Years Later" (2014). In 2016, Mariana wrote and directed the series "Marias" with Vera Egito. "Raquel 1:1" is her second feature film.