Luis Dechtiar's interest in storytelling and visual arts began in his early childhood, while growing up in Brazil. He wrote short stories and drew comic books. This sense of expressing creativity to an immediate audience naturally led to the pursuit of filmmaking when he started high school in the United States. Along with his enriching experience at Emerson College in Boston, many opportunities have come from activities with the northeastern American Bahá’í community. This summer he worked as production director on a feature-length film by Jonathan Pivko, The Olympians.

During his last year at Emerson, Luis hopes to write and direct a 20-30 minute thesis project about the philosophical struggle that humanity has faced during the past century. It will be a densely-layered science fiction piece shot on 16mm color film. Included here are a few samples of Luis's work.

A Play for Mona, 2003. This documentary, available for purchase from discover-writing.com, features a biographical play about Mona Mahmunidzad, a 16-year-old Iranian Bahá'í. Mona was executed in 1983, during the Iranian cultural revolution, for teaching children's classes.

Serving at the Lotus Temple, 2004. A documentary about the youth volunteers who come from around the world for a period of service at the Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi, India. Premiered at the Northeast Bahá'í Youth Festival.

A_part, 2004. A short fiction piece shot on film for a production class at Emerson College, and recent winner of the school's EVVY Award for that category. It incorporates a Bahá'í vision of the current world into a storyline accessible to the general public.

D.O.G., 2002. An experimental fiction piece based on a song of the same title by the artist Download, and winner of the EVVY Award for video productions. It explores the themes of illusion, the ego, transformation, detachment, and ultimately, love.

For more, read our feature interview with Luis in On the Front Lines: Framing Luis.

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