Biography

Fern Silva (1982, USA/Portugal) is an artist who began working as an editor and cameraperson in NYC. His early films centered on his relationship to Portugal and have since expanded, underlining the influence of industry on culture and the environment. For over a decade, his 16mm films have been screened widely in festivals, museums, and cinematheques including the Media City, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, New York, London, Melbourne, and Hong Kong International Film Festivals, MOMA PS1, New Museum, Anthology Film Archive, and the Harvard Film Archive. They've been awarded prizes from the Ann Arbor Film Festival (Gus Van Sant Award), 25FPS Festival (Grand Prix), and the Agora Post-Production Award from the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. His work has been featured in publications including Cinema Scope, Filmmaker Magazine, and Film Comment. He's taught filmmaking at various institutions including the University of Illinois at Chicago, Bard College, and Bennington College and has received support from the Jerome Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, MacDowell, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. He studied film at the Massachusetts College of Art and Bard College and is a fellow at the Film Study Center at Harvard University.