Amy Serrano
Encyclopedia
Amy Serrano is a Cuban-American film maker. Serrano is writer, director, cinematographer
and producer.
While based in Miami, Amy also wrote, produced and directed the U.S. co-production for the feature length film "“MOVE!”" Produced in Rome, Italy and distributed throughout Film Festivals in Europe, “"MOVE!"” is a fictional film composed of short films by 11 filmmakers in 6 continents exploring the dispassionate state of humanity through varied human emotions.
Her body of work includes directing and producing the PBS broadcast "“A Woman's Place: Voices of Contemporary Hispanic-American Women" featuring Isabel Allende, Dr. Antonia Novello, Bianca Jagger, Maria Hinojosa, Esmeralda Santiago, Marjorie Agosin and other barrier breaking Hispanic-American Women.
Amy also produced the award-winning “"?Adios Patria? The Cuban Exodus”" narrated by Andy Garcia (Berlin Film Festival, Best Documentary New York Independent Film and Video Festival, PBS). She executive produced the PBS broadcast and Emmy-Award nominated "Cafe con Leche: Voices of Exiles' Children" and associate produced the Emmy-Award nominated "“Havana: Portrait of Yesteryear”" narrated by Gloria Estefan for PBS.
In June 2003, Amy became a recipient of the Tesoro Award in Art and Culture. In January 2004, she was awarded a prestigious Fellowship with the National Hispana Leadership Institute [NHLI] which has involved Leadership Studies at Harvard University’s JFK School of Government, the Center for Creative Leadership, on Capitol Hill, and with various recognized leaders in social and civic change.
In July 2004, she was named a “Latina of Excellence” in Hispanic Magazine's Top Latinas Roster for 2004. In July 2005, she was named one of fifteen top Young Hispanic Leaders in the United States by the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC and participated in a Diplomatic Exchange in Spain with their top leaders in the social, political, economic and cultural arenas. Towards the end of 2005, Amy was profiled in a book on Young Hispanic-American leaders in the United States published by the Spain-U.S. Council.
In 2006, she was selected to be profiled in the Florida Hispanic Yearbook. In May 2008, MEGA TV named her "one of the “most influential and recognized Hispanics in the United States”" and in October of 2009, she was selected as a “Mujer Vanidades” in Vanidades Magazine. She was also recently chosen as a subject of an upcoming documentary on Latina leadership in the United States, as well as one of nine subjects in artist Diego Quiros' upcoming multidisciplinary installation project "“Citizens"” based on civic involvement and lasting contributions to her hometown Miami-to be unveiled in 2012.
She is also engaged in producing a multidisciplinary project entitled "Suffer the Children" which deals with human trafficking and labor abuse of children. Through this endeavour, she intends to bring continued awareness and solutions to the lives of children trafficked and exploited.
She also continues to be a featured guest lecturer at colleges, universities and cultural centers giving talks on the intersection of arts and activism; women and children’s rights; human trafficking and modern day slavery; hope during times of injustice; the ability to affect public policy through the communication arts; and many other inspiring themes.
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
and producer.
Filmaking career
Award-Winning filmmaker Amy Serrano shot, produced, wrote and directed the feature-length and critically acclaimed documentary, "The Sugar Babies: The Plight of the Children of Agricultural Workers on the Sugar Industry of the Dominican Republic". Narrated by Edwidge Danticat and composed of field recordings coupled with outside testimony, the film explores the lives of the descendants of the first Africans delivered to the island of Hispaniola for the bittersweet commodity that once ruled the world. These very same people continue to be trafficked from Haiti to the Dominican Republic to work on sugar plantations under circumstances that can only be considered modern day slavery.While based in Miami, Amy also wrote, produced and directed the U.S. co-production for the feature length film "“MOVE!”" Produced in Rome, Italy and distributed throughout Film Festivals in Europe, “"MOVE!"” is a fictional film composed of short films by 11 filmmakers in 6 continents exploring the dispassionate state of humanity through varied human emotions.
Her body of work includes directing and producing the PBS broadcast "“A Woman's Place: Voices of Contemporary Hispanic-American Women" featuring Isabel Allende, Dr. Antonia Novello, Bianca Jagger, Maria Hinojosa, Esmeralda Santiago, Marjorie Agosin and other barrier breaking Hispanic-American Women.
Amy also produced the award-winning “"?Adios Patria? The Cuban Exodus”" narrated by Andy Garcia (Berlin Film Festival, Best Documentary New York Independent Film and Video Festival, PBS). She executive produced the PBS broadcast and Emmy-Award nominated "Cafe con Leche: Voices of Exiles' Children" and associate produced the Emmy-Award nominated "“Havana: Portrait of Yesteryear”" narrated by Gloria Estefan for PBS.
Awards and recognitions
Amy has received honors by the City of Miami with a proclamation making October 27 "AMY SERRANO DAY". Twice, she's been named a "Woman of Today" in Glamour Magazine (Spanish Editions, August 2000 and August 2003). Glamour Magazine also named Ms. Serrano a "Woman of the Year" in their Millennium issue. During Women's History Month, she was presented a Mentor Award by the Public School System and named a Distinguished Female Role Model by the Public Library System. She was also one of 8 women profiled in a women's empowerment documentary entitled "Evolution of Woman". This national, cutting-edge exhibit was first unveiled at New York City's Metropolitan Pavilion.In June 2003, Amy became a recipient of the Tesoro Award in Art and Culture. In January 2004, she was awarded a prestigious Fellowship with the National Hispana Leadership Institute [NHLI] which has involved Leadership Studies at Harvard University’s JFK School of Government, the Center for Creative Leadership, on Capitol Hill, and with various recognized leaders in social and civic change.
In July 2004, she was named a “Latina of Excellence” in Hispanic Magazine's Top Latinas Roster for 2004. In July 2005, she was named one of fifteen top Young Hispanic Leaders in the United States by the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC and participated in a Diplomatic Exchange in Spain with their top leaders in the social, political, economic and cultural arenas. Towards the end of 2005, Amy was profiled in a book on Young Hispanic-American leaders in the United States published by the Spain-U.S. Council.
In 2006, she was selected to be profiled in the Florida Hispanic Yearbook. In May 2008, MEGA TV named her "one of the “most influential and recognized Hispanics in the United States”" and in October of 2009, she was selected as a “Mujer Vanidades” in Vanidades Magazine. She was also recently chosen as a subject of an upcoming documentary on Latina leadership in the United States, as well as one of nine subjects in artist Diego Quiros' upcoming multidisciplinary installation project "“Citizens"” based on civic involvement and lasting contributions to her hometown Miami-to be unveiled in 2012.
Present
Apart from commissioned and consulting projects, Amy is also at work on a book on New Orleans where she has lived since 2007. "“This is Who We Are: Lessons from New Orleans on Resilience, Reinvention and Sustainability"” is composed of observations, interviews, and portraits of individuals and organizations who in the aftermath of two human-made disasters, lost it all, yet survived tragedy, devastation, and found ways to begin again and thrive in a Post-Katrina and Post-Oil Spill New Orleans.She is also engaged in producing a multidisciplinary project entitled "Suffer the Children" which deals with human trafficking and labor abuse of children. Through this endeavour, she intends to bring continued awareness and solutions to the lives of children trafficked and exploited.
She also continues to be a featured guest lecturer at colleges, universities and cultural centers giving talks on the intersection of arts and activism; women and children’s rights; human trafficking and modern day slavery; hope during times of injustice; the ability to affect public policy through the communication arts; and many other inspiring themes.
Other work
A published poet, writer, essayist and speaker of 4 languages, she remains a committed Senior Fellow of the Human Rights Foundation in New York; a Fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Institute in Washington D.C.; a Board Member of Voz de Mujer, a women’s empowerment and leadership organization based in Texas; an Advisory Council Member of the Faulkner Society’ in New Orleans; a Member of the Spanish Embassy's Young Hispanic Leader’s Association in Washington D.C.; and was recently appointed a founding Board Member to Ambassador Armando Valladares' non-governmental organization, Human Rights for All.External links
- http://www.sirenstudios.net
- http://www.sugarbabiesfilm.com
- http://www.wordsandmusic.org/Amy%20Serrano.html