Edson Oda | Director/Writer

Edson Oda | Director/Writer

Screenwriter and director, Edson Oda moved to LA from Brazil 8 years ago.  When younger, Edson worked his way through the back catalogues of some of the great filmmakers like Charlie Chaplin and Akira Kurosawa and knew he wanted to emulate what they were doing. He loved the idea of being able to tell stories in such a personal way, something he was not able to find as much through his role as an advertising copywriter. He saw himself more as a writer because of the simplicity of only needing a pen and paper but once he got more confident creating stories, directing was a natural extension. 

Working on his first feature, Nine Days, starring Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz, Edson could see a culmination of everything he had learned up to that point, which felt like a validation of his prior sacrifices. He pours everything into his work and in Nine Days, he says you can see the struggle of being an outsider and the loneliness that comes with it, but you can also see the joy and excitement of discovering your own path. He wants one of his future projects to be about his other great love: salsa dancing. 

In Brazil, Edson knew about BAFTA but connected it to another world, another reality, so to be a part of BAFTA Breakthrough is an indescribable honor, a feeling that’s hard to put into words. He hopes to use it to be a part of the change that is slowly happening in the industry where people from different fields and backgrounds are coming together to share experiences and stories and would love to connect with people in a totally different industry.