Biography

Déjà Cresencia Bernhardt Raised on Maui and now traveling between her disparate homes in Bali, Indonesia and Austin, Texas, Déjà draws upon her mixed heritage - finding inspiration to tell both narrative and documentary stories, often informing one another. Her films have screened in festivals worldwide, won numerous awards, catapulted humanitarian work into the forefront of the global public eye, and her film, The Midwife's Husband (2012), was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Déjà's documentary work has been globally influential in promoting humanitarian efforts in Africa, Indonesia, Haiti and beyond, including the award winning documentaries, Guerrilla Midwife(2010), and Tsunami Notebook(2009), both inspired by the humanitarian work of her mother, Ibu Robin Lim(CNN Hero). Déjà first picked up a camera to follow her mom around the world - documenting the important work she was doing. Déjà studied filmmaking as an undergraduate at Maharishi International University where she received her BFA in film production and later received her MFA at University of Texas Radio-Television-Film. Déjà was both a New York Women in Film From-Script-to-Pre-production fellow(2019) and a Los Angeles Women In Film & Blacklist feature film lab fellow with her feature screenplay, Half Angels, which was also named one of the top ten best screenplays by CAPE: The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and The Black List(2019). Déjà's prelude short for Half Angels titled Last Hawaiian Sugar was the 'Ohina Labs Greenlight Winner(2019), a PIC(Pacific Islanders in Communication/PBS) funded project(2020), an Austin Film Society Grant and Santa Fe Film Institute Grant recipient. Déjà wrapped production of her short, Last Hawaiian Sugar, and recently premiered it at Hawaii International Film Festival(November 2021). Déjà is most passionate about making films that open hearts and connect people to their global and indigenous communities.