Monica Sorelle is a

Haitian-American Haitian Americans (; ; ) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest population of Haitian citizens in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area. In addition, they have sizeable popu ...

filmmaker and visual artist based in Miami.

Early life and education

Sorelle was born and raised in

North Miami, Florida North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University. Originally the "Town of A ...

to Haitian parents. She started taking film classes at 16, and attended

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...

and

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film in 2012.

Career

Sorelle produced a number of short films that have been awarded at festivals such as

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

BlackStar Film Festival The BlackStar Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by BlackStar Projects. The festival focuses on films about and by Black, brown and indigenous people from around the world. It takes place each August in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I ...

and Miami Film Festival, and acquired by

Criterion Channel The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributor ...

and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Black Film Center & Archive. She was awarded the Artist Fellowship from the Caribbean Cultural Institute at

Pérez Art Museum Miami Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Cent ...

in 2021. In 2023, her video work was exhibited on PAMM TV, Pérez Art Museum Miami's streaming service for video art. Sorelle is a 2023 Artists in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) Fellow and recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship. Sorelle co-wrote and directed her feature film debut, ''

Mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

'' (2023), about the impact of gentrification in Miami's

Little Haiti Little Haiti (, ), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the rest of the Caribbean. The area i ...

through the lens of a Haitian demolition worker and his family. ''Mountains'' had its world premiere at the 2023

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, where it received a Special Jury Mention in the U.S. Narrative competition, and its international premiere in the Centrepiece program at the

2023 Toronto International Film Festival The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.Victoria Ahearn"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details" '' Playback'', April 20, 2023. The most noted change from past years was tha ...

. ''Mountains'' received several festival awards, including Miami Film Festival’s Made in MIA award. Sorelle won the

Someone to Watch Award The Someone to Watch Award is an emerging filmmaker award presented by Film Independent Spirit Awards that recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. History The award includes a $25,000 un ...

at the 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards. The film was released theatrically in the United States in 2024.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorelle, Monica Living people 21st-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers American people of Haitian descent American video artists American women film directors American women film producers American women screenwriters Artists from Miami Film directors from Florida Film producers from Florida Screenwriters from Florida University of Central Florida alumni Writers from Miami Year of birth missing (living people)