Débora Souza Silva

Débora Souza Silva
Débora Souza Silva at The Gracie Awards ceremony.
CitizenshipBrazilian
Notable workFor Our Children, Fractured
Websitedebsilva.com

Débora Souza Silva is an Afro-Brazilian director, producer, writer, journalist, and filmmaker.[1] She is best known for her feature documentary For Our Children (Netflix),[2][3] and Fractured (Frontline |PBS).[4] She received the Les Payne Founder's Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Creative Capital Award, and was selected for a New York Times Institute Fellowship.[2]

Career

Silva began her career as an on-air television reporter and producer in Brazil, covering stories about race and social inequality. In 2016, she was awarded a fellowship with The Center for Investigative Reporting, where she produced a series of short documentaries focused on immigration and social justice.[5] Her work addresses social issues, exploring themes of identity, cultural memory, and the experiences of women of color, and has been featured by several news outlets, including PBS, BBC, The New York Times, TIME,[6] Reveal News, KQED, and Fusion.[2]

Filmmaker

Silva wrote, directed, and produced For Our Children, a documentary that chronicles the powerful convergence of two mothers, Reverend Wanda Johnson[7] and Angela Williams, whose lives were forever altered by police brutality against young Black men.[8] The film premiered at the 2022 San Francisco International Film Festival under its original title Black Mothers Love & Resist,[9] was later acquired by Ava DuVernay's Array Releasing,[1] and was released on Netflix on May 10, 2024, under the new title, For Our Children.[2][3][10]

Directed, produced, and co-written by Silva, Fractured examines the mental health crisis in jails across the United States. The documentary is based on a radio and digital series released in 2023 by WFAE and FRONTLINE.[4]

Silva has been awarded funding by the Sundance Institute, the Tribeca Film Institute, California Humanities, Firelight Media, and Chicken & Egg Pictures.[2]

Awards

Silva was named one of the winners of the 2021 Creative Capital Awards for her Black Mothers project.[5][11]

In 2022, she received the Sidewalk Film Festival Award for Best Black Lens Film[12] and was nominated for Best Documentary at the Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival.[13]

In 2023, she was honored with the Athena Film Festival Breakthrough Award,[14] nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Winter Film Awards,[15] and won the Best Documentary Film award at the Denton Black Film Festival for Black Mothers Love & Resist.[13][16]

In 2024, her documentary For Our Children was a finalist for the inaugural Sing Sing Film Festival award, an initiative by The Marshall Project.[17]

In 2025, her film Sol in the Garden was recognized as an Athena Rising Stars selection at the Athena Film Festival.[18]

Filmography

Year Title Director Producer Writer Network(s) Ref.
2024 For Our Children (formerly Black Mothers Love & Resist) Yes Yes Yes Netflix [2][3][10]

Short films

Year Title Director Producer Writer Network(s) Ref.
2018 Luna Yes Yes Yes Glamour [19]
2019 Based on a True Story Yes Yes Yes PBS [20]
2023 Sol in the Garden Yes Yes No PBS | POV [18]
2024 Fractured Yes Yes Yes PBS | Frontline [4]

References

  1. ^ a b Harshaw, Pendarvis (2024-04-29). "'For Our Children' Urges a Renewed Focus on Police Brutality". kqed.org. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Complex, Valerie (2024-04-26). "Array Releasing Acquires Dèbora Souza Silva's Documentary 'For Our Children'". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  3. ^ a b c Tangcay, Jazz (2024-04-26). "Array Acquires Débora Souza Silva's Documentary 'For Our Children' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  4. ^ a b c "A 'Fractured' System: FRONTLINE, WFAE & Firelight Media Investigate Long Waits for Mental Health Care by Defendants in North Carolina Deemed Too Sick to Stand Trial". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  5. ^ a b "Three Latinx Filmmakers Named Winners of the 2021 Creative Capital Awards". Cinema Tropical. 2020-12-12. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  6. ^ Simons, Justine (2023-10-05). "Watch: The Power of Nature in Healing". TIME. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  7. ^ "Reverend Johnson and Debora Souza Silva discuss their eye-opening documentary". Yahoo News. 2024-05-10. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  8. ^ "For Our Children". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  9. ^ Billington, Alex (2024-05-07). "New Trailer for Array's 'For Our Children' Doc About Coming Together". firstshowing.net. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  10. ^ a b "Array to release Director Débora Souza Silva's 'For Our Children' on May 10 on Netflix". BlackFilmandTV.com. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  11. ^ "2021 Creative Capital Award Recipients Announced". Artforum. 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  12. ^ Eddins, Sam (2022-08-29). "2022 Sidewalk Film Festival Award Winners". Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  13. ^ a b "Directors - Film Fatales". Film Fatales. 2023-03-17. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
  14. ^ "The Athena Film Festival Breakthrough Award - Athena Film Festival". athenafilmfestival.com. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  15. ^ "Black Mothers Love & Resist | Film | Winter Film Festival". 2023-01-12. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  16. ^ Woo, Sukyeong (2023-01-29). "2023 DENTON BLACK FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITIVE FILM AWARDS – Denton Black Film Festival (DBFF)". Retrieved 2025-06-18.
  17. ^ "The Marshall Project to Host First-Ever Sing Sing Prison Film Festival". The Marshall Project. 2024-09-19. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  18. ^ a b Lewis, Hilary (2025-03-06). "Athena Film Festival Reveals 2025 Honorees, Black List-Inspired Athena List of Unproduced Screenplays (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  19. ^ "Comedian Luna Malbroux Uses Humor to Shine a Light on Darkness". Glamour. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  20. ^ Truly CA | Based on A True Story| Truly CA | Season 14 | Episode 2. Retrieved 2025-06-17 – via www.pbs.org.
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