HUGO DE SOUSA is a LA-based filmmaker. His films move between deadpan comedy and emotional unease, following characters navigating everyday situations that gradually slip into the strange or uncomfortable. Blending restraint with humor, his work explores loneliness, identity, and human contradiction without settling into a single tone.
His debut short, The Event, screened at Slamdance, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Fantastic Fest in 2022. The film later premiered online as a Vimeo Staff Pick and was named one of NoBudge’s Top 12 Films of 2023.
His follow-up, Je Ne Suis Pas Une Star De Cinéma, premiered at FEST — New Directors | New Films, marking a darkly comedic shift in tone with a precise and unsettling edge reminiscent of Michael Haneke.
His latest short, Best Friends with the Devil, a comedy-thriller, will World Premiere at SXSW in March 2026.