DANIEL DONATO
Daniel Donato (Fortaleza, Brazil, 1987) is a filmmaker and cinematographer based in the Netherlands. His most recent film as director, Hello My First Love, Over and Out, premiered in the Opening Scenes section of the 39th Visions du Réel (CH).
As a cinematographer, his work has been showcased at major international festivals including Locarno Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, DOK Leipzig, Nederlands Film Festival, Helsinki International Film Festival, and Uppsala International Short Film Festival.
His filmmaking practice always begins with a fascination for people. Donato approaches his protagonists with a desire to understand them, exploring the shifting and often contradictory nature of human identity. He asks how to reveal the internal tensions that coexist within a single individual, and how to portray, through the audiovisual medium, identities that are fluid and fragmented.
During his artistic residency at La Casa Cuadrada A.I.R., Donato developed—together with Lisa Marie Vlietstra—the first draft of a feature film conceived in collaboration with the inhabitants of El Coronil. The project, positioned at the threshold between fiction and documentary, explores the challenge of pursuing one’s true passion in rural contexts, where dreams and aspirations often come into contrast with living conditions and prevailing professions.
Through an open casting session, intimate stories, unexpected aspirations, and hidden talents emerged: from future rappers and bullfighters to imaginary dancers. This collective exercise not only captured a snapshot of the community’s desires but also posed an essential question: if you were the protagonist of your own film, who would you be?
