2023
In the year marking the 65th anniversary of the passage of the “Azorean Refugee Act,” AVISTAVULCÃO welcomed American filmmaker Bronte Stahl, originally from New Jersey, to create a visual art project exploring the relationship between America and the Azores. Bronte Stahl grew up in an area with a strong Azorean immigrant community on the U.S. East Coast, a community that has always fascinated and inspired him. One of his future film projects focuses on contemporary relations between the Azores and the U.S., viewed from the perspective of a native American.
During his residency on the island of Faial, the artist conducted research, including interviews and photographic and video documentation, within local communities. During his stay, the artist presented his findings from the U.S. and also led a discussion with the public addressing the Azorean presence in North America and the connections between the two communities. The work developed during the artist residency will serve as the foundation for the creation of an audiovisual piece in which the artist aims to explore the history of Azoreans in America and, more specifically, the historical—but above all, contemporary—connection between the communities of New Jersey and Faial.
Bronte Stahl (b. 1993) is a filmmaker from Westerly, RI, USA. She graduated from the European traveling master’s program DocNomads and is an alumna of the Flaherty Seminar Fellowship, IDFA Project Space, Eurodoc, and the Points North Fellowship. His films, including Puiet (2022), Terril (2019), and Lungs (2017), premiered at festivals such as Venice’s Critics’ Week (Best Short Film), Rotterdam, and DocLisboa, respectively. As a producer, he is driven to elevate emerging international voices in non-fiction cinema. This work has been supported by the Sundance Documentary Fund, DocSociety US, the British Film Institute, and the LEF Foundation, among others. His first feature film as a producer, Rejeito (2023) by Pedro de Filippis, premiered at Cinéma du Réel and screened at HotDocs, Camden, IDFA, and many others. He currently holds a Fulbright Fellowship for Romania in the field of film.
