Amy Serrano

Amy Serrano (born in Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban-American writer, director, cinematographer and producer.

Filmaking career

Her works include the U.S. co-production for the feature length film “MOVE! Where are you Going?”. Produced in Rome, Italy and distributed through film festivals and television in Europe, “MOVE!” is a fictional film composed of short films by 11 filmmakers in 6 continents exploring the dispassionate state of humanity through varied human emotions. She wrote, shot, produced and directed the segment titled "Not in Kansas."

She also produced and directed the PBS broadcast “A Woman's Place: Voices of Contemporary Hispanic-American Women" featuring Isabel Allende, Dr. Antonia Novello, Bianca Jagger, Maria Hinojosa, Esmeralda Santiago, Marjorie Agosin and other barrier breaking Hispanic-American women. She produced "Adios Patria? The Cuban Exodus" narrated by Andy Garcia, winning awards at the Berlin Film Festival, the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, and PBS. She was executive producer the PBS broadcast and Emmy Award nominated "Cafe con Leche: Voices of Exiles' Children" and associate produced the Emmy-Award nominated "Havana: Portrait of Yesteryear" narrated by Gloria Estefan for PBS.

Her most recent work includes the award-winning, yet seemingly controversial feature-length documentary entitled "The Sugar Babies: The Plight of the Children of Agricultural Workers on the Sugar Industry of the Dominican Republic". Narrated by Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, the 99 minute film explores the lives of the descendants of the first Africans delivered to the island of Hispaniola for Sugar; the bittersweet commodity that once ruled the world. These very same people continue to be trafficked from Haiti to the Dominican Republic to work in sugar under circumstances that can only be considered modern day slavery.

Awards and recognitions

Ms. Serrano has been the recipient of recognition including having a day in the City of Miami proclaiming October 27 "Amy Serrano Day". She's been named a "Woman of Today" in Glamour Magazine on two occasions, [Glamour Magazine, Spanish Editions, August 2000 and August 2003] also naming her "Woman of the Year" in their Millennium issue. During Women's History Month, she's been presented a Mentor Award by the Public School System and named a Distinguished Female Role Model by the Public Library System.

Amy was one of 8 women profiled in a photographic documentary entitled "Evolution of Woman" and commissioned by Clinique. This national photographic gallery exhibit was first unveiled at New York City's Metropolitan Pavilion.

In June of 2003, she received the TESORO AWARD in Art and Culture. In January of 2004, Amy Serrano was awarded a Fellowship with the National Hispana Leadership Institute [NHLI] which involved Leadership Education at Harvard University’s JFK School of Government, the Center for Creative Leadership on Capitol Hill, and with various recognized leaders in social and civic exchanges. In July 2004, Ms. Serrano was named a “Latina of Excellence” in Hispanic Magazine’s Top Latinas Roster for 2004.

Present

Frequently, Ms. Serrano can be found as a guest lecturer at colleges, universities and cultural centers and was recently asked to be a part of the Speakers Bureau of the United States Department of State. In July 2005, she was named 1 of 15 top Young Hispanic Leaders in the United States by the Spanish Embassy in DC and participated in a Diplomatic Exchange in Spain with their top leaders in the social, political, economic and cultural arenas. Towards the end of 2005, Amy was profiled in a book on Young Hispanic-American leaders in the United States published by the Spain-U.S. Council. In 2006, she was selected to be profiled in the Florida Hispanic Yearbook. Just recently, Ms. Serrano was named one of "The Most Influential and Recognized Hispanics" by MEGA TV.

Other work

In addition to filmmaking, Ms. Serrano is a published poet and the speaker of 4 languages who is currently working on her first book; a non-fiction narrative on human rights based on her past field experiences and activism as a documentary filmmaker.

References

1. www.sirenstudios.net2. www.sugarbabiesfilm.com