Luisa Dantas has worked in film and television production in the U.S. and Brasil for over a decade. She has worked as a writer and director on a wide-range of different projects from short films and documentaries to pre-school television programs. She began to pursue documentary filmmaking in order to fulfill her desire to create socially conscious films that would challenge our increasingly desensitized culture.

Her background as a first-generation American born of Brasilian parents has informed much of the creative work she has done. Her first short film was produced and shot in Brasil, and was seen in festivals all over the world. She also received a grant from Disney/ABC to develop a screenplay about a young Latina coming of age in America. Many of her projects deal with themes of cultural identity, and she is currently developing a script based on the real-life experiences of undocumented immigrants who worked at Wal-Mart. When she’s not in production on a project, Luisa devotes much of her time to teaching. She has taught film and video production to at-risk youth in both the U.S. and Brasil. She also teaches film to students on the college level who are pursuing careers in both narrative and documentary filmmaking.

Luisa received her B.A. in English and Latin American studies from Brown University. She also received an M.F.A in Film from Columbia University.

See Also: Luisa's experience embedded at a Wal-Mart in Florida.