Patricia Benoit | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 1997-present |
| Known for | Stones in the Sun |
Patricia Benoit is a Haiti-born American filmmaker.[1] In 2012, she was critically acclaimed for her directorial venture onStones in the Sun which was later screened at the 2012Tribeca Film Festival where she won "Best New Narrative Director".[2][3][4]
Patricia Benoit was born in Haiti. Her family was forced into exile under theDuvalier dictatorship; they moved to France first before moving to the United States. Benoit grew up inQueens, New York.[5]
In the 1990s, she became a filmmaker in New York. She worked with fellow Haitian-AmericanEdwidge Danticat, as well as withJonathan Demme, on projects onHaitian art and documentaries about Haïti.[6]
Benoit directed a short film titledFern's Heart of Darkness which appeared as one of the ten such short stories combined to produce a television filmSubway Stories in 1997. Her documentary film titledCourage and Pain, about the victims of political torture in Haiti, was shown at theWalter Reade Theatre in Newcastle York in 1996. She also directed an award-winning documentary titledTonbe/Leve which depicts the struggle for democracy in Haiti after the end of Duvalier's 30-year rule.[citation needed]
She rose to prominence as a film director where she was critically acclaimed for her directorial venture ofStones in the Sun, a film she also wrote, based on the lives of Haitian people. It was released in 2012, accumulating positive reviews.[7][8]
The filmStones in the Sun received the best narrative feature film award at the Los Angeles Pan American Film Festival and also received theAfrica Movie Academy Award for Best Diaspora Feature in 2013.[9] At theTribeca Film Festival, Patricia Benoit herself also received the special award for best debut narrative director.[2]
Her short story "The Red Dress" was published in Edwidge Danticat's 2003 anthologyThe Butterfly's Way, subtitledVoices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States.[2][10]