We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Luísa Dalé Silva. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Luísa below.
Hi Luísa, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
That’s an interesting question! This is a very hot topic for for me as I have recently learnt how to deal with my impostor syndrome. And it’s freeing! It took time, experience, a lot of therapy and also an active reflection on myself alone and myself around others to understand better who I am, who I’ve been and who I can be. I’ve studied a lot, worked a lot in my field and with all the elements stated above, I can say that I feel very good with the professional I am right now, with the knowledge I possess right now and the freeing part of not feeling like an impostor is that I now feel I can do whatever I want, invest on whatever projects I feel like for the sole reason of wanting it and not having to account anyone else for it. It takes time and resilience. The path, the milestones, these are life. Not the goal. So there’s no rush to be “perfect” or the “best I can ever be”. The beauty lies in its eternal seeking.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Born and raised in Brazil and discovered her passion for art from an early age as a powerful tool to transform oneself and others around us. She graduated in History and wrote her thesis on Brazilian Art History from the 19th century. She then pursued a MBA in Cultural Assets while studying Photography at the Panamerican School of Art and Design in Sao Paulo. During this period, she studied acting and worked as an assistant make up designer for commercials and feature films. Developing her interest in photography and film, in 2018 she studied Cinematography at the Escuela Superior de Cinema y Audiovisual de la Cataluña (ESCAC) in Barcelona and since then, has worked as the Director of Photography of numerous short films, commercials and feature-length documentaries, being the first woman cinematographer to shoot a tv show – Women Talks (2021)- from TV Globo, the biggest broadcast TV in Brazil. She just graduated the MFA in Cinematography program at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Luisa holds dual citizenship (Brazil/Italy) and speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish, French and Italian.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Versatility, curiosity, team-playing. Know what you want but be open to what you don’t know that you might enjoy doing, put yourself in the uncomfortable zone, risk, experiment. Ask questions, I think smarter people are the ones who ask not the ones who answer, the ones who ask are constantly in movement, putting their brains to work. Be a team player, whatever your profession is. Getting “there” alone is an illusion and I believe in change through community and collective. Individualism is outdated.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Devotional cinema by Nathaniel Dorsky. A dear friend of mine and collaborator gifted me this book after the first year of grad school and it blew my mind by its simplicity of concepts but yet so powerful. “If we do relinquish control, we suddenly see a hidden world, one that has existed all along right in front of us. In a flash, the uncanny presence of this poetic and vibrant world, ripe with mystery, stands before us. Everything is expressing itself as what it is. Everything is alive and talking to us”. I think all filmmakers should read this book, it will change your lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luisadale.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/luisadale
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisa-dal%C3%A9-silva-528a2120/
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lu-sa-dal-silva