Artist residency talk with Shari Petti: Place – Narrative – Relationality

How can connections between places in Oxford and the Caribbean be made tangible in participatory and community focused approaches in filmmaking? Filmmaker, writer and producer Shari Petti explores the theme of Place, Narrative and Relationality as an artist in residence at the School of Arts at Oxford Brookes University. The residency spans over three weeks in July 2024 with a series of screenings and collaborations with community groups, local creatives and researchers in visual and media studies.

This artist talk gives insights into her experiences, outcomes and reflections combined with screenings of selected work. The event is open to Brookes members and the wider public - join us on campus at the Cinema Room, Richard Hamilton Building, Headington Hill campus.

Free event, everyone is welcome!

About the artist:

Shari Petti, a creative director, cinematographer, writer, and producer, is driven by a deep curiosity about the human experience and a desire to give voice to the underrepresented. Drawing from her Trinidadian heritage, Shari’s films explore the complexities of Caribbean identity, culture, and history. A Fulbright scholar with an MFA in Cinematography from Florida State University and double major in Film Production and Film Studies from the University of the West Indies, Shari is adept at crafting documentaries, narrative films, experimental videos, commercials, music videos, and photographs.

Her documentary series “Small Lime” (2016) provides an intimate, unfiltered glimpse into the lives of everyday Trinidadian youth, while her work on “Mas Prep”(2020-ongoing) explores the rich tradition of Trinidad’s carnival, celebrating the artisans and performers behind the scenes. Her documentary “Sorf Hair,”(2017) about the natural hair experience in Trinidad and Tobago, was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the Pan African Film Festival and the Nouveaux Regard Film Festival, won People’s Choice for Best Documentary at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, and screened at several film festivals and universities globally. Shari’s narrative short film “Fantastic Friday” (2023), which has screened in London, Canada and across the Caribbean, merges documentary and narrative techniques, capturing the experience of Carnival in a story of friendship. Her work as a commercial cinematographer earned a “Silver Addy for Cinematography” in 2023 and as a creative director her work with Mccann Port of Spain won “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” at the 2024 Caribbean Advertising Federation – American Advertising Awards.

Shari also works in experimental video having collaborated with artist Christopher Cozier on “All around us – elsewheres are beginnings and endings” as a cinematographer for the 2019 Sharjah Biennial as well as Curator Andil Gosine as cinematographer for his film on artist Wendy Nanan which screened at the Art Museum of the Americas. Shari currently teaches Cinematography at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine.