From the beaches of Guadeloupe to the bright lights of the Big Apple, Mariette Monpierre is a rising star in the film & television industry. Growing up in the belly of Paris, films fascinated Mariette Monpierre. She completed her Masters Degree in Languages and her BA in Television & Medias at l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne and her graduate degree in American Studies at Smith College in Massachusetts. She then moved to Manhattan to follow her dream of becoming a filmmaker. She began her career as a producer at BBDO New York, one of the world’s leading advertising agencies, producing commercials for Pepsi Cola, Frito-Lay, Visa, Campbell’s, Pizza Hut, Gillette & FedEx. Her portfolio expands beyond advertising and includes feature films, documentaries, short films, music videos, podcasts. Her first independent piece, “Knowledge is Power,” was a documentary commissioned by the New York City Health Department in 1998 to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. In 2002, her documentary “Sweet Mickey for President?” won Best Documentary at the Reel Sisters Film Festival in New York. Monpierre’s first theatrical work, a short film “Rendez-Vous,” was nominated for the Djibril Diop Mambety Award in partnership with the Directors Fortnight in Cannes. “Rendez-Vous” experienced a successful run in several major international film festivals and took her around the world: Toronto, Marrakech, Montreal, FESPACO in Burkina Faso, Seoul, Milano, The African Diaspora Film Festival in New York, to name a few. Monpierre’s first feature length film “Elza (Le Bonheur d’Elza)” was the New York Times Critics’ Pick and won several awards, including: the 2012 BAFTA Choice Award and The Jury Award for Best Director First Feature at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles; the Paul Robeson Award for Best Film of the Diaspora at FESPACO 2013; Best Narrative Feature at the Roxbury Film Festival and The Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival. The French American Cultural Exchange in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy selected ELZA to take part of The Tournées Festival, a program that brings the best Christelle Théophile holds a MI degree in journalism delivered by the IIC Paris (International Institute of Communication). After graduating she entered editorial teams in institutions such as Demain TV, TAC Presse, l’Equipe TV. She currently works as a journalist, editor, reporter and anchorwoman for France Télévisions - Guadeloupe la 1ère. “Between to shores” is her first documentary project.