About


Bio Dalila Droege completed her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at age 20 at Indiana University at South Bend. She studied, performed, and taught classical piano in Baltimore and New York, and has won numerous awards and scholarships for her work in music and fine art. She turned to film as a way to combine her love of both music and painting and in 2005 she moved to Chicago to pursue an MFA in film production at Columbia College. Her short documentary, On the Floor, was screened in the Shorts Corner of the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival, and was the winner of a Hero Award at the My Hero Film Festival. Carousel, a short film she directed as part of the Adobe Reel Ideas Filmmaking Contest at Cannes 2007, was the winner of Adobe’s Best Documentary Award. Her latest narrative short film, The Girls of Alden, is an eerie film inspired by and filmed in her tiny hometown of New Carlisle, Indiana and is the winner of the 2008 Best in Show of the Weisman Award exhibition, a Best Performance Award at the 2009 Sundeis festival, Best Cinematography at the 2009 Big Screen Awards, and an Award of Merit at the 2009 Accolade Awards. She is currently in pre-production for her thesis film, shooting this August.


Statement   The most important basis of my work is the desire to tell stories that take place on multiple levels, and to encourage people to reflect upon their own individual beliefs. Our existence is very layered: the realities of work, of love, of our family lives vie with each other and with the demands made upon us by larger cultural expectations. Our need to know ourselves and to acknowledge a spiritual or psychological reality is often put aside. I believe that the purpose of art, beyond beauty and entertainment, is to help us get past our own self-interest and recognize the connections that place us in awe inspiring relationship to everyone and everything else.


Filmography


The Girls of Alden, 16mm, Narrative: Writer, Director, Producer, 2008                        


Carousel, DV, Documentary: Director, Co-Producer, 2007                                                 


On the Floor, DV, Documentary: Director, Producer, Editor, 2007                                      


Hush Little Baby, DV, Narrative: Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, 2007


Daughter of Horror, found footage, Narrative, 2007  


Clear Cut, DV, Narrative: Writer, Director, Producer, 2006