Meet Leonardo Nussenzveig | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Leonardo Nussenzveig and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leonardo, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Well, I was born in New York but raised in Dallas, Texas. My parents are actually Brazilian immigrants. It is really sort of a classic “American Dream” scenario. They came to New York, my mom to study biology and my father medicine. They met while in school, got married, and then had me. It was definitely unique growing up in a multi-cultural household like that with career driven parents. It instilled a pretty strong work ethic where I would always strive to be creating and occupying myself with different projects. Being from an immigrant household also gave me a dual perspective, internal and external, on growing up as an American. This made for a few awkward growing pains especially when visiting the rest of my family in Brazil. There were just different problems, different ways to relax, different foods (even the prepackaged American brands e.g. Doritos tasted different), but what I noticed most of all as a kid was that the American channels seemed to be premiering cartoons from two years ago as new. Of course there are more significant differences between the two countries but as a kid these little familiar comforts suddenly get skewed or turned on their head. Having the dueling perspectives puts you in a state of perpetual culture shock where you have one foot in one country and one foot in another, not to mention growing up in Dallas where most of my classmates and friends had not only had had their families be in the US for many generations but they had been residing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area since Texas was incorporated into the United States.

However, the main benefit of a multi-cultural upbringing is that it comes with an ability to step outside the norms and aspects of American culture that are taken for granted and interact with them as though they are unfamiliar. As someone who writes and directs movies and studies anthropology, noticing these quirks can be invaluable to creating a reality within art.

Growing up in Texas has also had a major effect on my work. There is something strange and special about that place. If you spend too much time away it beckons you back. It always sneaks into my work as a setting or a reference. It plays far more into my identity than would have ever expected when I was living there, Dallas especially. While it is not the effortlessly cool Austin, there is a meditative, understated charm to the place. It is a place that grew up and came of age with me. When I initially moved there, it was a slow corporate city, downtown would be abandoned by 7PM. However, by the time I got into high school, Dallas had restored a few of its industrial districts into trendy walkable commercial areas. These details may sound a bit irrelevant to my background but seeing Dallas grow up with me makes the city feel almost like a brother. This is why I wanted to dedicate my first feature film, The Doldrums, to Dallas. While one may watch it and see that it isn’t exactly the most positive portrayal of the city, it is a portrait warts and all, made with love. Texas, despite its flaws, will always be in my heart.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For starters, most of my work so far has a lot to do with memory. The Doldrums, for instance, is a movie about three friends and how they refuse to grow up. The narrative is stitched together out of the memories of real people. I actually had the foresight to interview some of my high school friends right before I went to college. I knew what they were doing (getting drunk, smoking weed, cruising aimlessly, partying, etc.) could make for some kind of fun and wild movie. I hung on to those interviews for a while listening to them every so often. Sometimes I would show them to friends, ask them what they thought about it. I never really knew what to do with them until someone told me that they sensed a deep sadness within these stories. That gave me the idea to write a cautionary tale about mental stagnation. Fiction fills the gaps and shifts it away from a meandering, pointless mess, however, we maintain that experiential element of truth. This truth though, is not only subjective, but tampered by memory. These things actually happened but the only proof is heavily doctored. Making this perspective consumable, interesting, and most importantly relatable is really where the artistic process starts.

I am still very much at the start of my career, but I hope my work speaks for itself. I am definitely fortunate to have made a feature film right out of college. It was certainly the most challenging thing I have ever done. The process starts off as a sprint but you have to maintain that pass for such a long period of time, through so many processes and while working with so many different people. It takes a village to make a film and letting people’s talents shine within the scope of your creation breeds something very special. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have worked with such talented and generous people.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Braindead Theater to catch a repertory screening.

Hike in the Hollywood Mountains.

Drive Up and Down Mulholland and catch views of LA as you wind through those twists and turns.

All Seasons Brewery in Miracle Mile has ski-ball and a great vibe.

Golf at Los Feliz Par 3 or at the Penmar if they are more experienced

Play pool at the Shatto 39

Bowl at Jewel City in Glendale

Eat a burrito at Lucky Boy in Pasadena

Go to a K.I.N.O.D. car meet on Friday

Outdoor movie screening at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Day trip to Malibu/ Ventura/ Ojai

Malibu: Go to El Matador Beach

Ventura: Stop by Dexter’s Camera to get some film developed/look at camera gear

Ojai: Have some Mexican Food at Agave Maria and wait for the sunset (if you’re lucky you’ll catch a pink moment)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate the shoutout to my parents who have supported me and my dreams throughout my entire life. My family mostly consists of people within the sciences or medicine, so breaking from that tradition is something a bit unexpected and discouraged in other families. However, both my parents have a deep appreciation for art and I was lucky enough to inherit this. My mom would help me practice piano and my dad would often take me to museums and movies.

My love for film actually began with my dad. Early on he would take a curatorial role and rent DVD’s from Netflix first introducing me to movies like Indiana Jones and Spirited Away. I watched these over and over again until I was conscious enough to order my own, but it really all started there. This tradition in film continued where he would drive me every Friday to Blockbuster where I could rent a couple of movies to watch over the weekend.

My mom is very much the cheerleader of my life. She always went above and beyond during my high school years with finding programs and opportunities for me to pursue creative endeavors. More recently she put in a lot of leg work to help me out with my first feature film, The Doldrums. Without her, none of it could have happened.

So, to both my parents, I am eternally grateful.

Website: https://www.leonardonussenzveig.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leo_of_apple/?hl=en

Other: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/785815814

Image Credits
Film Photos taken by Audrey S. Lin Digital Photo taken by Nicholas Hansell Painting by Nicolette Sloan