Theresa Traore Dahlberg (born 1 November 1983) is a Swedish film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Dahlberg is the daughter of Burkinabé musician
Richard Seydou Traore
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
and grew up between Burkina Faso and
Öland
Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...
in Sweden.
Her parents worked for the United Nations in development missions in Burkina Faso, and she has three brothers. After graduating from high school, Dahlberg moved to New York and worked a number of jobs, including sales assistant in a candy store, amusement park employee, real estate agent, and photographer's assistant. In 2007, she enrolled at
The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
in New York.
Dahlberg earned her bachelor's degree from the
Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts
The Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (SADA) ( sv, Stockholms dramatiska högskola) was a school within the Stockholm University of the Arts that offers a University Diploma in Performing Arts and Media. SADA was Sweden’s largest school of fil ...
, and her Masters in Fine arts from the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
. Her master's project was called "Copper and Cotton".
Dahlberg directed her first short film, ''Procrastination'', in 2006. She created the 30-minute documentary short ''On Hold'' in 2009. Afterwards, Dahlberg worked for the Swedish television programs and directed fictional works.
In 2011, she directed the short documentary ''Taxi Sisters'', on the topic of female taxi drivers in Senegal. In 2017, Dahlberg directed the feature-length documentary ''Ouaga Girls''. The film examines young women in Burkina Faso who have chosen to take up the typically-male profession of being a car mechanic. It shows their lives in and out of school, and explains the reasons they took the mechanical route - some had teenage pregnancies, while others lost their parents.
''Ouaga Girls'' was awarded the CREDIF prize at the Carthage Film Days. Dahlberg directed ''The Ambassador's Wife'' in 2018, and it was featured at the
Toronto Film Festival
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...
. The film received the Tempo Documentary Short Award, and Dahlberg received the Beckers Art Award in 2019.
In addition to filmmaking, Dahlberg is also a sculptor. She participates in so-called solidarity projects with the Tensta Konsthall art gallery in Stockholm.
Filmography
*2006: ''Procastistation''
*2009: ''On Hold''
*2010: ''Två på resa (Two Travelling)'' (TV series, two seasons)
*2011: ''Taxi Sister''
*2017: ''Ouaga Girls''
*2018: ''The Ambassador´s Wife''
References
External links
Official websiteTheresa Traoré Dahlberg
at the Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahlberg, Theresa
1983 births
Living people
Swedish women film directors
The New School alumni
People from Värnamo Municipality