Brown Girl Begins
Directed by Sharon Lewis
It’s 2049 on a forsaken island off the coast of Toronto where the survival of the islanders depends on young Ti-Jeanne to risk death by a spirit so she can take her place as a caribbean priestess and save her people.
Thursday, November 8, 2018 7PM | BMFF Feature
Sharon Lewis’ talent successfully criss-crosses the genre of television, film, digital, print and theatre in a variety of roles as an award winning director, actor producer and writer.
Sharon began working in the arts as an actor. She landed the title role in the Cannes nominated film, RUDE, the first all-Black above-the-line Canadian feature film. She continued to work in film and television as an actor but also moved into directing theatre. She co-wrote, directed and produced the 1994 smash hit play, Sistahs. Sharon married her political activist background with her on camera experience and garnered the highest rating for hosting the CBC live political talk show, CounterSpin in the history of that show. She is the first woman of colour in Canada to host a national prime time talk show. She is a Leo and Gemini nominated television host for ZeD, an interactive television and web CBC show.
In 2005 Sharon decided to hone her skills behind the camera as a director and went on to win the best Sci-Fi short for Chains at the Eugene International Film Festival. Chains, which she directed, produced and wrote was then bought by HBO USA, CBC Reflections and then played at the prestigious Chicago International Film Festival in 2010. Sharon continues her work with Caribbean-Canadian heroines with her first feature film, Brown Girl Begins. Sharon leads the way as a hybrid artist in this ever changing landscape of collapsing barriers between the artistic genres.

Director SHARON LEWIS
Writer SHARON LEWIS
Produced by VINCE BUDA, ROBIN CASS, SANDRA CUNNINGHAM, ELIJHA HAMMILL, KIKI HAMMILL, FLOYD KANE, SHARON LEWIS, JENNIFER OUANO, JENN PAUL, KULBINDER SARAN CALDWELL
Starring MOUNA TRAORE, NIGEL SHAWN WILLIAMS, SHAKURA S’AIDA, EMMANUEL KABONGO, MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN, RACHAEL CRAWFORD
Cinematographer MARC FORAND
Editor BEN LAWRENCE, RICHARD MANDIN
Runtime 70 MINUTES
Year 2017
Country CANADA