We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sonjja Baram a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sonjja, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had started sooner?
As a teenager, I wanted to write a book about the adolescence challenges I was living; all the insecurities, fears, and hopes of a teenager girl but I didn’t believe I could write a book because I had not finished my education. Little did I know that all those hormonal moments if I had put down on paper could have answered a lot of questions for young adults. I wish I had taken the chance and written that book. If I had been able to share my experience and insight with young girls experiencing similar difficulties, I would have been able to help them. I could have given them insight from a different perspective and maybe guidance during difficult times. I could have given them the courage to stand up for themselves and make positive changes in their lives. I could have provided comfort and guidance to others going through the same struggles.
Sonjja, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Filmmaker Sonjja Baram started her career in fashion at the age of 14 as an international model. She then studied fashion and art at the prestigious School of Fashion and Art Esmod-Paris. She became a highly regarded designer with her own brand and believed her path was set until she came across with the reality of the fashion world. She discovered that behind the beautiful faces and captivating world of fashion lay an ugly truth: that the industry was responsible not only for animal cruelty but also modern-day slavery, child abuse and significant environmental devastation.
This led Sonjja to steer her career in a new direction. She chose to turn her energies towards cinema, utilizing her creative talents to bring captivating, engaging stories to audiences around the world. After immersing herself in the study and lore of filmmaking, Sonjja created her first short-subject documentary, Confessions Of A Fashionista, an examination of the hidden effects of fashion on our fragile biosphere. Sonjja’s film also profiles designers who are on the cutting edge of mitigating this damage by adopting sustainable methods of clothing production. Another documentary in progress will explore the world of affordable and 100% sustainable “eco-communities,” which are starting to proliferate throughout the United States and abroad.
Having decided to branch out from documentaries, Sonjja wrote and directed a remarkable short-subject biopic based on the life of iconic actor Charlie Chaplin’s troubled mother. Blending imagery of the great Chaplin with vignettes of his disturbed but loving mother, Hannah, Can You Hear Me? is a visual tour de force, bringing the beautiful and tragic (yet hopeful) story of this troubled subject to the screen in a poignant, novel presentation reminiscent of some of the great films of the silent movie era.
As Sonjja embraces this exciting new chapter of her life as a storyteller, documentarian and environmental activist, she looks forward to continuing to use film to create vibrant images and captivating stories and to spread urgent messages. Sonjja’s spirit is her guide, and the journey continues.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Expression of self
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The ringing cedar of Russia
