FILMCO announces the upcoming theatrical release of T&T dance drama, ‘She Paradise’
Following its world premiere at the AFI Festival and successful screenings at Tribeca Film Festival and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) among others, ‘She Paradise’ will have its homecoming theatrical premiere at MovieTowne Port of Spain and San Fernando, April 25th. Directed by T&T filmmaker, Maya Cozier, ‘She Paradise’ is a coming of age story that follows Sparkle as she joins a soca dance group and finds an opportunity for friendship and escape.
In a recent Loop interview, director, Maya Cozier remarked that festival audiences: “Fell in love with the sisterhood. What really struck the most was that everyone that I spoke to said that they were rooting for the lead character and that they empathised with Sparkle and connected with her story and really wanted to follow her throughout.”
‘She Paradise’ received crucial seed funding in Trinidad from the ‘Take One Feature Film Grant’, a programme of then Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts.
Reviewed on the film industry website, The Playlist, writer Robert Daniels noted that: “‘She Paradise’ is a love letter not only to the autonomy of a young Black woman but the culture of a proud island nation, too.”
FILMCO: The Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago, is partnering with US distributor, Samuel Goldwyn Films, on the T&T theatrical release of ‘She Paradise’; the run will start Monday April 25th and will continue at MovieTowne (Port of Spain and San Fernando) through to Thursday May 5th. This is FILMCO’s third theatrical release, which forms a core element of the organisation’s distribution offering.
For further information, screeners or to arrange an interview with the film’s director or cast, please contact Mikayla at distribution@filmco.org, or call her at 323.3228.
Credits
Director: Maya Cozier
Writers: Maya Cozier, Melina Brown
Producers: Jennifer Konawal Brady, Mishka Brown, Kara Baker, Jolene Mendes, Marie-Elena Joseph
Executive Producers: Erika Pearsall, Kristina Loggia, Janine Mendes-Franco
Co-Executive Producers: Michael Kelleher, Julian Beale
Cast
Onessa Nestor, Kimberly Crichton, Chelsey Rampersad, Denisia Latchman, Kern Mollineau, Michael Cherrie
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Maya Cozier was raised by artist parents, Irenée Shaw and Christopher Cozier — in Trinidad and Tobago. She gained years of experience working as a dancer/choreographer for music videos and television shows (on her own and as part of a champion hip hop crew that represented the island at the world hip hop championships). After being awarded a national academic scholarship, she enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, NY, to pursue a degree in film. Her first short film was about a childhood friend, ‘Shan’, a limbo dancer, touring the United States with a circus. Her thesis film, ‘Short Drop’, a story in which a recently widowed retiree’s car is mistaken for an illegal taxi bringing together unlikely individuals in Port of Spain, won the NYWIFT student award and has shown at over 20 film festivals worldwide winning best Caribbean short film at Curacao film festival and best short film at trinidad+tobago film festival. After returning home, Maya made a short documentary on Sheena Rose, the Barbadian performance artist. She directed a short film based on Kayo Chingonyi’s poem ‘For those who mispronounce my name’ commissioned for the British Council’s Moving Pictures and Borders project. Maya also works as an art director on commercials and directs music videos for Soca stars. She was listed as 25 people under 25 to watch by Caribbean Beat Magazine. Maya recently co-wrote and directed her first feature length film, ‘She Paradise’, which draws on her teenage years as a dancer.
