Débora Souza Silva

Débora Souza Silva is an award-winning Afro-Brazilian filmmaker whose work examines systemic racism and inequality, while highlighting movements of Black resistance. Her work has been featured on NETFLIX, The New York Times, FRONTLINE | PBS, BBC, Reveal News, and KQED, among other platforms. Débora received the Les Payne Founder's Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and was selected for a The New York Times Institute Fellowship. She is a Board Member of the Studio IX, an organization supporting emerging women and nonbinary nonfiction filmmakers.

Débora is a recipient of the 2021 Creative Capital Award, a member of the 2020 Chicken & Egg(celerator) Lab and the 2019 Firelight Media Lab. She is also a recipient of the Athena Film Festival Breakthrough Award. Her work has also been funded by the Sundance Institute, Glassbreaker Films, the Investigative Reporting Program, Tribeca Film Institute, Fork Films, Perspective Fund, Catapult Film Fund, The Center for Investigative Reporting, Berkeley Film Foundation, Sisters in Cinema, International Documentary Association, DocPich, and California Humanities.


Débora’s debut feature documentary, FOR OUR CHILDREN premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival, in 2022, and is currently streaming on NETFLIX.


Format: Unscripted Features

Genre: Black, Historical, Latine, People of Color, Politics, Social Justice, True Story, Women

Location: San Francisco, California, United States

Athena Film Festival, 2023 - Breakthrough Award for Best Feature Film

Sidewalk Film Festival, 2022 - Best Black Lens Award

Denton Black Film Festival, 2023 - Best Documentary Film

Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival, 2022 - Nominated for Best of the Best Documentary