Black Pete, Zwarte Piet: The Documentary

The A-Team

Shantrelle P. Lewis, Director & Producer

A 2012-13 Andy Warhol Curatorial Fellow, Shantrelle P. Lewis is Brooklyn-based curator and a New Orleans native who returned home to assist in the city’s post-Katrina revitalization efforts after a 12-year stint on the east coast. Having received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in African American Studies from Howard and Temple Universities, respectively, her extensive travels throughout Africa, Europe, the United States, South America, and the Caribbean has allowed Shantrelle to experience and witness the manifestation of the African Diasporan aesthetic firsthand. As a curator, Ms. Lewis uses exhibition to respond critically to socio-political and cosmological phenomena through an African-centered lens. Since 2011, Shantrelle has been engaged in research in the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean for a 2015 exhibition at Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI).

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Chanelle Aponte Pearson, Producer

Chanelle Aponte Pearson is a Bronx-bred, Brooklyn-based queer multimedia artist, producer, and researcher whose work promotes cultural heritage, social justice, and individual and collective empowerment. Chanelle uses film, still photography, fine art, and research as tools to address social and economic issues facing the LGBTQ community, people of color, and other marginalized communities. She is co-producer on the award-winning film “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,” a 2012 Sundance Film Festival selection. As a producer with Media MVMT, a Brooklyn-based film production company, Chanelle has also produced MoCADA TV, a web series highlighting artists, businesses and cultural institutions that reflect and serve the African Diaspora.

Shawn Peters, Director of Photography

Shawn Peters is a Brooklyn-based cinematographer who uses light and form to tell unique stories. He has been recently recognized for his work on the feature film “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,” a 2012 Sundance Film Festival official selection as well as in the documentary entitled “The Triptych,” which profiles contemporary artists Wangechi Mutu, Barron Claiborne, and Sanford Biggers. Shawn has been a sought after eye for music videos since he burst onto the scene with Pharoah Monche’s video “Clap” and “Still Standing” as well as Gregory Porters “1960 What” and “Be Good.” He was recently featured in hip hop mogul Jay Z’s art blog, Life + Times.

Brett Russel, Still Photographer

Brett Russel was born and raised on the island of Curacao, and moved to The Netherlands at age eighteen. Being passionate about sports and music, the Amsterdam-based photographer initially studied movement technology and sciences, followed by two years of attending the Royal Dutch Conservatory to follow a drums program. But a trip to New York City and the purchase of a new camera changed Brett’s ambitions: the self-taught photographer found that capturing images was the way in which he could express himself best, inspiring him to become serious about photography. Although his work is diverse and inspired by different subjects including (street) culture, contemporary music and video, a recurrent characteristic is the way in which his photos communicate visual narratives, often touched by humor. Brett Russel has had his work exhibited at Rialto Theater Amsterdam, GRID Bi-annual Photo festival, WTC Rotterdam, and has been published in various magazines, newspapers and on websites.