In celebration of the festival’s 7th anniversary year, the Caribbean Film Academy, co-created by Chloe Walters – Wallace & Themba Bhebhe, will intentionally build on its groundbreaking work of uniting, building bridges and renewing the many ties across the pan-Caribbean cultural field.
CAFA 2024 will focus on providing both up-and-coming Caribbean and diaspora based film creatives with the knowledge and perspectives of seasoned industry professionals in order to support their artistic development and build connections focusing across the region rather than outwards.
As such, we have devised a mix of in-person gatherings and artist-led conversations focused around the unique and pressing needs of the Caribbean.
Karla Claudio is a filmmaker, visual artist and educator born and based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She’s currently working as a creative and local producer for Matininó, a feature length hybrid documentary directed by Gabriela Arp and supported by Topic, Sundance Film Institute, Bay Area Video Coalition, Studio IX, Doc Society and the General Film Office of the Dominican Republic. She presented a series of short films about Taíno potter Alice Chéveres and her family, including masa (2021), piedra viva, piedra muerta (2021) and la reseña de cuquito (2021), in the exhibition El momento d el yagrumo at the Museum of Contemporary Puerto Rican Art in April 2021. She produces and directs experimental documentaries for the Canadian arts non-profit ArtsEverywhere, as part of her multimedia online publications on ethnobotany, mythology and land based practices in support of material and food sovereignty. Her work has also been presented at the Whitney Museum of Contemporary American Art, Kadist Gallery, Miramar Design Museum, BronxNet and in local Puerto Rican galleries. She’s a recipient of the Working Films Impact Fund 2024, Sundance Documentary Film Fund 2022 and was selected to be a 2023 Sundance Producer Intensive Fellow.
Shari Petti has worked in the film industry for the past 9 years as a creative director, cinematographer, writer, and producer. With a profound curiosity about the human experience and a passion for amplifying underrepresented voices, Shari draws inspiration from her rich Trinidadian heritage to create films that unpack the intricacies of Caribbean identity, culture, and history.
As a Fulbright scholar with an MFA in Cinematography from Florida State University, Shari has honed her skills in crafting documentaries, narrative films, experimental videos, commercials, music videos, and film photography. Her documentary series “Small Lime” offers an unfiltered, intimate look into the daily lives of Trinidadian youth, while “Mas Prep” pays homage to the vibrant tradition of Trinidad’s carnival, shining a spotlight on the artisans and performers who bring the festival to life.
Shari’s documentary “Sorf Hair,” a exploration of the natural hair experience in Trinidad and Tobago, earned nominations for Best Documentary Short at the Pan African Film Festival and the Nouveaux Regard Film Festival, and also won the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. The film has been showcased at numerous other film festivals and universities worldwide.
Her narrative short film “Fantastic Friday,” which screened in London, Canada, and across the Caribbean, blends documentary and narrative techniques to capture the essence of Trinidad Carnival through a story of friendship. Her work as a commercial cinematographer was recognized with a “Silver Addy for Cinematography” in 2023, while her contributions as a creative director earned numerous accolades at the 2024 Caribbean Advertising Federation – American Advertising Awards, including “Best of Show,” “Best Film, Video, Sound,” “Gold Addy For Cinematography,” “Gold Addy For Editing,” “Silver Addy For Editing,” and “Silver for Best 60sec TV Spot.”
Shari’s artistic versatility extends to the realm of experimental video, as evidenced by her collaborations with artist Christopher Cozier on “All around us – elsewheres are beginnings and endings” as a cinematographer for the 2019 Sharjah Biennial, and with curator Andil Gosine as a cinematographer for his film on artist Wendy Nanan, which was featured at the Art Museum of the Americas.
Kaleb A’guilar is an award-winning writer/director who resides between London and his homeland Jamaica. He is a Commonwealth Shorts: Caribbean Voices (2021) recipient who holds an MA in Directing from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BSc. in Anthropology from the University of the West Indies.
Working across disciplines, Kaleb is interested in highlighting ‘the everyday’, and often explores recurring themes of familial bonds, migration, gender and sexuality. He is particularly interested in how these themes manifest in and create nuanced, intersectional identities within the Black and Caribbean lived experience.
His poetry and prose work has been published in numerous collections including PREE and the National Library of Jamaica’s ‘New Voices’ while his narrative film and video work have been showcased at the National Gallery of Jamaica as well as regional and international film festivals. His latest short, No Entry, has won several awards and is now available on Soleil Space and American Airlines in-flight entertainment.
Kaleb currently serves as an adjunct lecturer in the film department at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica.
Saeed Thomas’ journey into the creative arts began in childhood as a matter of instinct. Channeling his passion into a career, Saeed began working in the field professionally in 2012 as a stage technician, backstage assistant and audio tech. As his journey progressed, he also delved into Stage Management and audio for film and television. He has collaborated on projects with renowned international companies and organizations such as Hulu, UNICEF, Concacaf, and IAAF.
Saeed is the co-founder and CEO of M-One, previously known as Cine-core a Jamaica-based video production Company as well as the current President of the Jamaica Film and Television Association. Previously the youth rep of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association and a recipient of the 2020 Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Arts and Culture, Saeed has for worked on various short films such as ‘Enhanced’, Kinto, Cross My Heart and Flight and was selected as a participant of the Clermont Ferrand 2020 Euro Connection Programme with his script, Black Girl In The Ring. His most recent produced work is a Jamaican short drama, Sugarcake. Saeed is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Mona where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Entertainment and Cultural Enterprise Management.
Wendy Espinal is a Dominican filmmaker and creative producer. She bases her work on research, process and meaning. She has worked on multiple audiovisual and cultural projects, including award-winning feature films such as “Cocote” (Nelson Carlo de los Santos – RD/Argentina/Germany/EEAA), “Canción a Una Dama en la Sombra” (Carolina Astudillo – Spain), “La Fiera y la Fiesta” (Laura Amelia Guzmán & Israel Cárdenas), “Petra” (Jaime Rosales – ES/FR/DIN), “El Silencio del Viento” (Alvaro Aponte – PR/RD), “El Rey de la Habana” (Agustí Villaronga – Spain/RD), “El Cosmonauta” (Nicolás Alcalá – Spain); series such as “Dreams Without Borders” (Aljazeera) and “From Bahía to Brooklyn” (VPRO Holand), “The Crown” (Netflix), “Jack Ryan” (Paramount/Amazon), “The President” (Gaumont/Amazon), “West World S3” (HBO), as well as festivals and projects for organizations such as Latin Grammys, VPRO Holanda, Documenta Madrid, Casa de América, Círculo de Bellas Artes, MataderoMadrid, Teatro Circo Price, Residencia de Estudiantes, Plan Internacional, Cesal Dominicana, Festival Presidente de Música Latina, Ministerio de Turismo de RD and Centro León.
She is currently developing as a creative producer the projects “Tres Balas” (Genesis Valenzuela – RD / Spain), “I am my grandmother’s granddaughter” (Tatiana Fernández Geara – RD), “Anna Borges do Sacramento” (Aída Bueno Sarduy – Brazil/Cuba/Spain). As director, she’s researching for the documentary essay “We all came in the same boat” (RD / Haiti).
Her film work has been supported by DEENTAL – CNC France / Cannes Marché du Film Producers Network, Locarno Open Doors, Visions Sud’Est, ARTE Kino, World Cinema Fund, Chicken & Eggs, Berlinale Talents, Ibermedia, Fonprocine RD, ICAA Spain, ICEC Catalonia, UN Women, E. León Jiménez Art Contest, Locarno IFF, Havana International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, Guadalajara IFF, MiradasDoc, Panama IFF, Trinidad & Tobago IFF, Directed by Women Spain, Iberdoc, among other international organizations and film festivals.
She is the promoter and co-founding member of ACÚ – Dominican Association of Documentary Filmmakers.
While studying at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Amir’s student film “Who I Say I Am” won the Best Trinidad & Tobago Short Documentary Film Award, as well as the United Nations Award for Best Emerging Documentary Filmmaker, at the Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival in 2016.
In 2017 Amir was chosen from among 215 applicants in 24 countries to be a part of the 27th Generation of students at the prestigious Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba; where he completed the Curso Regular programme of 3 years, specializing in the field of Documentary Film Direction. He was 1 of 8 students to have been granted a fully funded scholarship provided by the Cuomo Foundation of Monaco. In 2023 Amir was selected out of 820 applicants to be 1 of the 33 participants of the 15th edition of Talents Guadalajara – being 1 of the 4 participants selected for the Directing Studio.
He has made several short films across Cuba, including “The Whisper of the Leaves” which had its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest in 2021, and “While the Night Falls” which had its world premiere at the True/False Film Festival in 2023. His work has been screened internationally at numerous film festivals and programs such as the Daimon Muestra de Cine, Third Horizon Film Festival, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival – and he has been featured at cultural institutions like the Pérez Art Museum of Miami, Olympic College and the Northwest International Education Association. Three of his short films are currently being distributed on the global streaming platform Soleil Space.
In December 2023, Amir’s latest film and first feature film project “Garland of Skulls” was selected for the Nuevas Miradas developmental programme in Cuba, where it won an award for post-production sound support from Victor Jaramillo, most known for his work on Colombia’s first Academy Award-nominated film, “Embrace of the Serpent”. Most recently, Amir was selected to represent Trinidad & Tobago in the Know India Programme in January 2024, where he was involved in a month of intensive cultural exchange activities across Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Agra, India. Amir is a former education facilitator of the Living Water Community’s Ministry for Migrants and Refugees, and is currently a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, where he delivers the “Cinemas of Latin America” course. He also produces commercial creative content through his production company, Elements of Mental Zen Productions Ltd.
Filmmaker and visual artist. Malaury Eloi Paisley works from her native island Guadeloupe, a French territory in the Caribbean. She studied art history, museums studies and fine arts in Paris and Montreal before doing Ateliers Varan workshops in Guadeloupe in 2016. There she made her first short film, Chanzy Blues (30 min). She also attended an international workshop at EICTV ( Escuela Internacional de Cine y de Television) in Cuba, focusing on the aesthetics of documentary film with filmmaker Marcos Pimentel.
It was a decisive period, consolidating her commitment to non-fiction filmmaking and photography as powerful means of exploring the human experience and socio-political context in Guadeloupe. She then embarked on a long-term project exploring the city of Pointe-à-Pitre, with L’Homme-Vertige : Tales of a city, between 2017 and 2023. Selected at the 74th Berlinale and nominated for the Documentary Award.
Obed Lamy is a journalist and filmmaker based in Chicago. He co-directed, We Are Here, a short film about the impact of U.S. nuclear programs on families from the Marshall Islands. The film screened at the National Museum of History and Culture in the summer of 2023.
His previous film, Once Forgotten, won a Student Emmy from the Mid-America Emmy® Foundations and best Emerging Filmmaker from Fayetteville Film Festival. His work has screened at numerous film festivals, including the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival, and Toronto Black Film Festival.
Born and raised in Haiti, Obed cultivated his passion for storytelling from his mother, who spent her evenings telling the vivid stories of her childhood during the dictatorship. His work explores collective memory and questions “silences into historical narratives”, bridging the gap between past and present. He has a knack for capturing intimate moments and real-life scenes as a vehicle into the humanity and dignity of his film’s participants.
A Fulbright scholar, Obed earned a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas and honed his creative storytelling skills with a Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media from Northwestern University.
