Frances-Anne Solomon
Encyclopedia
Frances-Anne Solomon is a Trinidadian-Canadian-British filmmaker, writer, producer, and entrepreneur.
Born in England of Trinidadian parents, she began her professional life at the BBC in England, where she built a successful career as a Producer first with BBC Radio
then with BBC television drama
. She also produced and directed independent films through her company Leda Serene Films
.
In 1999, she moved her company to Canada where she continued to write, direct, and produce films, television programs, theatre plays, and new media projects.
In 2001, she founded CaribbeanTales
, a non profit company producing educational multi-media projects based on Caribbean-heritage stories.
CaribbeanTales
now includes annual Film Festivals and events in Toronto, Barbados, and other locations and the Toronto-based CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival.
In 2010, she founded CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc, the first film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean.
politician Dr. Patrick Solomon, she lived in many different countries, including Canada, the United States, Europe and Venezuela, before moving back to Trinidad at 9 years old. She attended the girls' "prestige" school, Bishop Anstey High School
. She moved to Toronto, Canada and studied theatre at the University of Toronto
's U.C.Playhouse, and poetry with Jay Macpherson
. In 1986, she moved to England, to work for the BBC
.
Peggy Su! produced by BBC Films. Set in a Chinese laundry in Liverpool in the 60's, it remains one of the only British films to depict the lives of the Chinese in Britain.
Lord Have Mercy
produced with Claire Prieto and Vanz Chapman, was Canada's first multicultural sitcom, and starred Russell Peters
alongside Caribbean stars Leonie Forbes and Dennis "Sprangalang" Hall.
A Winter Tale
, CityTV 2007, depicts a Caribbean-Canadian community plagued by gun violence in Toronto.
Reunion - West Indian Women At War:
What My Mother Told Me:
Bideshi:
Peggy Su:
Lord Have Mercy!:
A Winter Tale:
Born in England of Trinidadian parents, she began her professional life at the BBC in England, where she built a successful career as a Producer first with BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
then with BBC television drama
BBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
. She also produced and directed independent films through her company Leda Serene Films
Leda Serene Films
Leda Serene Films is a film, television, and theatre production company based in Toronto, Canada, owned by filmmaker and producer Frances-Anne Solomon....
.
In 1999, she moved her company to Canada where she continued to write, direct, and produce films, television programs, theatre plays, and new media projects.
In 2001, she founded CaribbeanTales
CaribbeanTales
CaribbeanTales is the trademark of a group of companies, with bases in Canada, Trinidad, and Barbados,that includes CaribbeanTales an educational multimedia production company, the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group - that produces film screenings, festivals, and industry training events, and...
, a non profit company producing educational multi-media projects based on Caribbean-heritage stories.
CaribbeanTales
CaribbeanTales
CaribbeanTales is the trademark of a group of companies, with bases in Canada, Trinidad, and Barbados,that includes CaribbeanTales an educational multimedia production company, the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group - that produces film screenings, festivals, and industry training events, and...
now includes annual Film Festivals and events in Toronto, Barbados, and other locations and the Toronto-based CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival.
In 2010, she founded CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc, the first film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Early life
The granddaughter of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
politician Dr. Patrick Solomon, she lived in many different countries, including Canada, the United States, Europe and Venezuela, before moving back to Trinidad at 9 years old. She attended the girls' "prestige" school, Bishop Anstey High School
Bishop Anstey High School
Bishop Anstey High School , abbreviated BAHS, is a government-assisted all-girls secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, founded by the Anglican Bishop Arthur Henry Anstey on January 13, 1921...
. She moved to Toronto, Canada and studied theatre at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
's U.C.Playhouse, and poetry with Jay Macpherson
Jay Macpherson
Jean Jay Macpherson is a Canadian lyric poet and scholar. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls her "a member of 'the mythopoeic school of poetry,' who expressed serious religious and philosophical themes in symbolic verse that was often lyrical or comic."-Life:Jay Macpherson was born in London,...
. In 1986, she moved to England, to work for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Career
What My Mother Told Me, a semi-autobiographical story of generational domestic violence in the context of a middle class Caribbean family.Peggy Su! produced by BBC Films. Set in a Chinese laundry in Liverpool in the 60's, it remains one of the only British films to depict the lives of the Chinese in Britain.
Lord Have Mercy
Lord Have Mercy
Lord Have Mercy! was a Canadian television sitcom, produced by Leda Serene Films, first shown on Vision TV in 2003. It received further showings on Toronto One, APTN and Showcase later the same year....
produced with Claire Prieto and Vanz Chapman, was Canada's first multicultural sitcom, and starred Russell Peters
Russell Peters
Russell Dominic Peters is an Indo-Canadian comedian, actor and disc jockey. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and has been nominated for four Gemini Awards.-Early life :...
alongside Caribbean stars Leonie Forbes and Dennis "Sprangalang" Hall.
A Winter Tale
A Winter Tale
A Winter Tale is a 2007 Canadian dramatic feature film, written, directed and produced by Frances-Anne Solomon, featuring Canadian actor Peter Williams and Caribbean stars Leonie Forbes and Dennis "Sprangalang" Hall...
, CityTV 2007, depicts a Caribbean-Canadian community plagued by gun violence in Toronto.
Filmography
- A Winter Tale, 2007, Feature Film - as Writer/Director, Producer.
- LiteratureAlive, 2005-6, TV Series - as Creator, Producer, Director.
- Lord Have Mercy!, 2001-3, sitcom - as Director, Producer, Co-Creator, Co-writer.
- Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, 1998, Feature Film - as Executive Producer
- Speak Like a Child, 1998, Feature Film - as Executive Producer
- Peggy Su!, 1997, Feature Film, as Director
- Sixth Happiness, 1997, Feature Film - as Executive Producer
- Flight, 1995, Television Movie, as Executive Producer
- What My Mother Told Me, 1996, Feature - as Writer/Director, Producer
- Siren Spirits, 1995, Mini-Series - as Creator, Series Producer.
- Bideshi, 1995, Short Film - as Director
- Reunion: West Indian Women at War, 1993, Documentary - as Writer/Director, Producer
- I Is a Long Memoried Woman, 1990, Documentary Feature - as Writer/Director.
Awards
I Is A Long Memoried Woman:- Gold Award - Television performing Arts - New York International Film and TV Festival
- Best Feature - Sony Awards
- Prix Futura - Best Doumentary Feature
Reunion - West Indian Women At War:
- Prized Pieces Award- National Black Programming Consortium, US.
What My Mother Told Me:
- Producer's Award - Women of The Sun, US
- Best Film Portraying the Black Experience - Berlin Black Film Festival
Bideshi:
- Best Short Film - Bombay Film Festival
Peggy Su:
- BAFTA - Best Costume Design
Lord Have Mercy!:
- Gemini - Nomination, Best comedy Series (with Claire Prieto, Vanz Chapman)
- Gemini - Nomination, Best Actress for Leonie Forbes
A Winter Tale:
- Best Canadian Feature - ReelWorld Film Festival
- Audience Award, Best Feature - Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival
- Best Foreign Film - San Diego Black Film Festival
- Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Foreign Film - Lagos Film Festival
- Diaspora Award - Fespaco
External links
- CaribbeanTales - CaribbeanTales, Canada
- CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution
- CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group
- Caribbean Beat A Winter Tale - Profile of Frances-Anne Solomon