Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sil Azevedo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sil, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I have worked on is the film I am currently producing, I Am for Peace. About ten years ago, after a house fire destroyed most of our belongings, my wife and I decided to embark on an adventure: a journey around the world. Departing from our home in Dallas, we kept traveling east for eighty-four days until we returned home again—transformed by what we had experienced.
When you move from country to country, seeing such varied landscapes, hearing the musicality of so many languages, and meeting people from every culture, something changes in you. As we traveled the world, one feeling kept returning: most people simply want to live in peace. They want to enjoy life’s small pleasures—the woman swimming at sunrise in the Adriatic, the women cooking rice for their community in the Himalayas, the medicine man taking us through the forest in Bali.
Seeing this, I wondered: if most people on Earth want to live in peace, why do we have so many wars and so much unnecessary suffering? This question stayed with me. In time, it compelled me to begin a search for wisdom, which has taken me again around the world. The result is the film currently in production, scheduled for release in the fall.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
Photography has been my passion since I was a kid and got my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic 133. I opened my studio in 2000. My practice evolved from stills to motion. I am a cinephile, so the evolution was natural. I am eternally curious, which makes documentary filmmaking a perfect fit. I am passionate about world peace and social justice, which is what I plan to continue spotlighting on film.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The world needs more kindness. As I work on I Am for Peace, I am meeting some wonderful people doing inspiring work. Several of them will be featured on the film, and I would like to continue to make films about the beautiful work they and many others are doing.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The creative process is a learning journey. One needs to enter each project with an open heart. To me, the most rewarding part of being a creative is the personal growth that takes place each day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://silazevedo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silazevedo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photosil
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sil-azevedo/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IamforPeaceFilm
Image Credits
Sil’s portraits by Andre Azevedo.