Shamira Raphaëla (born 1982) is an

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

n–

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. She is best known as the director of documentaries ''Daddy and the Warlord'', ''Deal With It'' and ''Our Motherland''.

Personal life

She was born in 1982 in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and grew up in Aruba to a Dutch mother and a

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

father.

Career

After voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs (VWO), she moved to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and studied fine arts at the

Gerrit Rietveld Academie The Gerrit Rietveld Academie, also known as Rietveld School of Art & Design and Rietveld Academy, is an art academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded in 1924 and offers programs in fine arts and design. History The Instituut voor Kuns ...

. Later she obtained a degree in media art from the

ArtEZ University of Arts ArtEZ University of Arts () is an art academy in Netherlands. ArtEZ combines several art institutes and art disciplines with branches in Arnhem, Enschede, and Zwolle. In its name the A stands for Arnhem, the E for Enschede, and Z for Zwolle. Aca ...

. Initially, she started to work as an independent director where she directed several television programs: ''Expeditie Robinson'' and ''Spuiten en Slikken''. In 2006, Raphaela produced and directed her maiden short film ''With Salt In My Eyes''. The short deals about three young Aruban women. After the success of several shorts, she made her first feature documentary ''Deal With It''. The film received critical acclaim and later awarded at the Los Angeles Urban Film Festival, the Belize International Film Festival and the Aruba International Film Festival. The film revolves around the story of two drug dealers and addicts: father Pempy and brother Andy, actually her family members. The film was nominated for best Debut at the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...

(NFF) 2015. In 2017, the film was awarded with the Lenno and the Sunfish the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Description IDFA is an independent, international meeting place for audiences ...

(IDFA) prize for the Best Youth Documentary. In 2017, she wrote the film ''Downfall of a Superwoman'' where she won the Karen de Bok Talent Award during IDFA, 2018. In the same year, she made ''Lenno and the Angelfish''. The film received critical acclaim and won the Award for Best European Children's Documentary during the

Berlin International Film Festival 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 ...

in 2019 and then received the Award for Best Children's Documentary at IDFA, 2018. In 2018, she made the biographical documentary ''Daddy and the Warlord'' which revolves around the story of journalist Clarice Gargard's father, who had been the right-hand man of Charles Taylor, the ex-president of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. The film had its premiere at the Movies that Matter film festival in 2019. Later, the film won a Golden Calf for Best Short Documentary at the Dutch Film Festival 2019. In December 2019, she made the documentary ''Ons Motherland''.

Filmography

References

External links

*
2Doc: Ons moederland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphaela, Shamira Living people 1982 births Gerrit Rietveld Academie alumni Aruban people of Curaçao descent Dutch film directors Dutch television directors