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My name is Esperanza Benavides, and the Columbia Travel Scholarship is the optimal path to my career in as diverse Film Director. After graduating Columbia College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Film & Video, I was an Independent Director and freelancer. I acquired diverse abilities to manage sets, teams and projects, and I plan to share my experience with Director Brian Rapsey to learn from him. My yearning to travel and learn new cultures motivated me to win a full scholarship at ICC. Now, I have a Media internship in Tokyo, Japan with NHK.
Although Japan is a source of inspiration, my goal is to become a globally diverse Director, and I am ready to expand my artistic view in Bogota, Colombia. Also being Latina, I strive to embrace Bogota to learn about the people and culture in order to make a fantastic film. As a productive filmmaker, I am able to exceed imaginative boundaries for this project, fully engage in the language and culture, and create a start for my self as a Director. My most recent short documentary is about Daichi, a Japanese man that has visited over 50 countries. Yet, he still needs to learn about himself and others from around the world. Daichi inspires me to travel because I want to see the world as much as he did and still keep that burning passion to travel. My next dream is to go to Bogota, Colombia and capture the people and culture there through my story telling. I will apply my diverse insight to the Columbia Travel Scholarship.