Sonja DeVries

About Sonja

• She was working as a freelance journalist, producing articles about Cuba.
• An NGO approached her and asked if she'd like to help them make a documentary about Cuba.
• She said, "I don't know anything about filmmaking," they replied, "Neither do we," and somehow, the film got made.
• Says that once she dove in, filmmaking clicked almost immediately.
• She'd always seen filmmaking as a skill she'd up on a pedestal, but once she tried it, she realized she could totally make it her career.
• Talking to her documentary subjects intimidated her at first because she hadn't had any schooling in film, didn't feel like she was good enough.
• But eventually, she found confidence in herself and in the project, and that was a major turning point.
• Says another huge revelation was when she taught herself to learn from other filmmakers, rather than compare her work with theirs.