Patricia Chica
Encyclopedia
Patricia Chica also known as Chicatronica is a Canadian film and television director. She is one of the most internationally renowned filmmakers of Salvadorian descent. In 2007 and 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador gave her a diploma of recognition for her outstanding contribution to the country's cinematic heritage. Winner of over 25 awards, her productions have been presented on television in North America, Europe and Australia, at numerous universities, within niche communities as well as in the international film festival circuit.

Life & Career

In January 1981, during the civil war in El Salvador, Patricia Chica and her family fled death squads for the safety of Canada. She became a naturalized Canadian Citizen in 1985. She grew up in Montreal, Quebec. Her mother Alicia Gizzi was of Italian descent.

Patricia Chica graduated with distinction from the Film Production department of Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...

. Her first professional short film La Promesse (The Promise) was presented in over 30 films festivals in 14 countries. The film won 10 awards among which the Grand Prize for Best Film in a Foreign Language at the Rhode Island International Film Festival
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newport Film/Video Society & Arts Collaborative, a 501 non-profit...

 (RIIFF), the Best Short Drama Award at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival
Magnolia Independent Film Festival
The Magnolia Independent Film Festival or The Mag, a film festival based in Mississippi, was founded by Ron Tibbett in 1997 in West Point, Mississippi. It was the first film festival to take place in Mississippi. Three years later it was moved to Starkville.The Festival is held in February. Films...

 in Mississippi, as well as the Best Directing Award at the Saint-Affrique Short Film Festival in France. This film received financial assistance from the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...

 via their FAP and ACIC programs and was signed by Cinéma Libre for worldwide distribution.

In 2000, Patricia Chica directed a 5-hour documentary series on the history of jazz music entitled Jazz: Music of the Century that was nominated for the Best Musical Program Award at the Rose d'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...

 in Switzerland. The series was a success on CFCF12 Canadian television network. The series featured archival footage as well as original footage and exclusive musical performances from the biggest names in jazz of the past Century: Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...

, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

, Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...

, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....

, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...

, and Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...

 just to name a few.

From 2001 to 2008, Patricia worked as a writer, director and producer on a dozen documentary series shot around the world for networks such as National Geographic, CBC, Showcase, OLN, CTV, Oxygen, Discovery-Travel Channel , MTV , Bravo! Canada, Life, Slice, Animal Planet, etc.. Her productions have aired on prime-time worldwide.

In 2006, New York singer-songwriter Kelly Padrick discovered Patricia Chica's work on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 and contacted her to direct the video of her debut single "Start Clean". Their video collaboration has since then grown and they eventually collaborated on all the singer's videos. They have built a style that combines provocative imagery, sensuality, BDSM and sexual subject-matter.

In 2008, Patricia completed another author-driven documentary entitled Rockabilly 514
Rockabilly 514
Rockabilly 514 is a 2008 Canadian feature documentary directed by Patricia Chica and Mike Wafer . The film documents the lives of a group of people belonging to the rockabilly sub-culture in Montreal, Quebec...

, co-directed with British filmmaker Mike Wafer. For over four years, they documented the lives and tribulations of a group of young people who live a lifestyle inspired by 1950's rock n' roll music. The film won the Best Documentary Award at the Director's Chair Film Festival in New York and has been screened at numerous festivals around the world. The documentary has aired many times on Bravo!, Canal D
Canal D
Canal D is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media. Canal D focuses on documentary programming primarily in the form of documentary-style television series that focus on a variety of topics such as crime, biographies, nature, science, and more.-History:In June...

 and in Sweden on SVT1
SVT1
SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...

. Some Universities have screened this film during their ethno-sociology classes.

In 2009, Patricia directed her next short Day Before Yesterday which has been a festival success, winning 10 awards including the Platinum Remi Award for Best Directing at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, the Best Short Drama Award at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival
Magnolia Independent Film Festival
The Magnolia Independent Film Festival or The Mag, a film festival based in Mississippi, was founded by Ron Tibbett in 1997 in West Point, Mississippi. It was the first film festival to take place in Mississippi. Three years later it was moved to Starkville.The Festival is held in February. Films...

, the Best Foreign Short at the Sacramento Film Festival
Sacramento Film Festival
The Sacramento International Film Festival is an arts organization with year round activities, culminating in an annual film celebration each year in late March and continuing to early April-Mission:...

. Over 30 film festivals have selected the film to this date.

Patricia Chica was named by popular vote #10 (in 2009), #5 (in 2010) and #8 (in 2011) in the Top 10 list of the best local filmmakers in the Montreal Mirror
Montreal Mirror
Montreal Mirror is a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a circulation of 70,000, and reaches a quarter of a million readers per week. It is published by Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltée....

 Reader's Poll, making her the first female director to ever be part of the list.

Filmography (selected work)

2011 Hello My Love (director, cinematographer, editor - music video for Kelly Padrick)

2010 Day Before Yesterday (director - short film)

2008 Rockabilly 514
Rockabilly 514
Rockabilly 514 is a 2008 Canadian feature documentary directed by Patricia Chica and Mike Wafer . The film documents the lives of a group of people belonging to the rockabilly sub-culture in Montreal, Quebec...

(co-director, cinematographer - feature length documentary)

2006 Tiara Girls (producer of 1 episode - MTV reality series)

2005 5 Takes
5 Takes
5 Takes is a travel series that airs on the Travel Channel. The series documents bloggers and vloggers traveling to locations of the world while interacting online with viewers...

(series producer season 1, director - television series)

2004 Live To Dance! (series director - television series)

2001 Variations on a New Generation (writer, director, editor - performance documentary)

2000 Jazz: Music of the Century (director - documentary series)

2000 La Promesse
La Promesse
La promesse is a 1996 film by the Belgian brothers Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.-Principal cast:*Jérémie Renier as Igor*Olivier Gourmet as Roger*Assita Ouedraogo as Assita-Awards and nominations:...

(writer, producer, director - short film)

1997 Renaissance d'Aphrodite (writer, producer, director - art video)

Links

Official Website www.patriciachica.com

Patricia Chica on the Internet Movie Data Base

Patricia Chica on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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