Nelson Silva

Biography

NJ Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal. Since a very early age, he seemed to be attracted by the moving images. The love of writing is own stories started when he was around 5 years old. The desire to tell stories to people made him desire a career in journalism. When he was 13 years old, NJ wrote his first ever screenplay, it was called "The Highschool". It was a 20 minute short film that described his state of mind in his surroundings. Casting his own friends as actors and convincing one teacher to help with the production, NJ directed his first ever short film at the age of 13. Unfortunately the film was never completed, but the filmmaking bug inside him was born. Only when he finished high-school he realized that journalism didn't satisfy his ever-growing imagination. At the age of 17, and after applying and being accepted in a major university in journalism, NJ enrolled in the film course at Universidade Lusofona. Discovering his own potential as a storyteller, he realized that film education in Portugal wasn't enough for his ambitions. In 2006 he decided to do a one month intensive course at the prestigious London Film Academy in the UK. It was during this month that he decided to make "Drops of a Soul". After returning to Portugal, NJ had only one thing in his mind, to make a professional short film. Only in December of 2007 his goal was reached. "Drops of a Soul" was shot at the end of 2007 and it was shown for the first time in Lisbon on February 14th, 2008. After making this short film, NJ returned to the London Film Academy to undertake the one year course. It was during this time that he directed two other short films, "Puny Earthlings" his first ever comedy with Charlotte Coy and Marco Costa, and "Yael" a World War II film starring Nadia Malamud and Steffan Boje.