St. Lucia wins at the film festival in Switzerland
– Advertisement –
Filmmaker Michelle Serieux from Saint Lucia and the Caribbean was celebrated at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland after winning two prestigious Open Doors Awards.
Both were in development for their film project, called a supernatural thriller black madonna, Directed and produced by Michelle through her production company Imagine the Caribbean.
The first award presentedOpen Doors – OIF – ACP – EU PrizeMichelle will provide “a mix of story editing and co-production strategy support, development advice and film dossier refinement, based on the specific needs of the winning project.”
The second award “Open Doors – Moulin d’Andé CECI Prize‘ offers ‘a writing residency to an aspiring director who has attended Open Doors 2022 (hub, lab or screenings), allowing them to continue working on the writing and development of their project’.
– Advertisement –
Michelle Serieux is the only filmmaker in this cohort from the Caribbean and the first filmmaker from St. Lucia to win both of these awards.
Michelle is particularly excited about a residency at a prestigious cultural institution in France, a major source of inspiration for new wave writers.
The Locarno Film Festival’s “OPEN DOORS” initiative has a new three-year focus focused on giving Latin American and Caribbean film projects the opportunity to reach and engage the industry players present at the festival in Switzerland.
Michelle Serieux, who lives in Mamiku on the east coast of St. Lucia, has an MA in Film and Cinema Studies from Columbia University (with honors in Narrative Strategies for New Media). She holds a BA (First Class Honours) in Media and Communications, Theater and Cultural Studies from the University of the West Indies.
Michelle Serieux is a writer/director/producer and the founder of Imagine the Caribbean, a boutique production company focused on bringing unique on-screen stories about the Caribbean.
The latest non-fiction project is Don’t come lookingan international collaboration with Canadian filmmaker Andrew Moir, which recently had its world premiere at HotDocs 2022.
Current projects in development include the supernatural thriller Black Madonnaand a hybrid new media project the virgin and the whore.
Michelle is happy to be back home in Mamiku, where her production company is based. The award-winning writer and director is excited to be based out of St. Lucia in the near future.
Cover photo: Copyright (c) Locarno Film Festival / ti-press / Massimo Piccol
– Advertisement –