We meet Vicky... 

on the one-year anniversary of her mother’s death. A first-generation Haitian-American dancer, Vicky returns to her family home for a memorial gathering. While she is there, Vicky sticks out like a sore thumb and is deeply uncomfortable with the Vodou rituals that her family partakes in to mark the anniversary.

With the encouragement of her loving Tatie Edwidge, her mother’s baby sister, Vicky ends up spending a day at her mother’s home by herself. Her dreams are visited by her mother, her childhood self and the loa that her family is committed to serving, Èzili Dantò. At the end of this weekend back home, Vicky, now Victorine is fully changed and finally ready to embrace her cultural and spiritual inheritance.

This film is at once both subjective in its exploration of a young woman’s interiority and objective in its narration of Haitian diasporic life, the debts we owe to those who’ve forged our identities, and the costs incurred when we ignore those debts.

Victorine exists as an intimate and visceral portrait of Haitian diasporic life that understands (Black) movement as a sacred ritual of connection, allowing us to reach through space and time. 

THIS FILM IS THAT FUSION... 

Black American culture specifically has had an enormous impact on my voice as a filmmaker since I learned to make films with a company that centered narratives about the Black American experience Black&SexyTV. As I grow my practice, I am using several of those tools and techniques to tell the stories of my own people, Haitian people.

At this intersection, I met the character, Vicky, A Haitian American dancer trained in American institutions her entire life who doesn’t know how to integrate her two identities into her everyday life—let alone her art practice. For her, the easiest way to cope is to keep the two entirely separate. But one year after her mother’s passing, she finds little to no peace inside of that isolation. To her surprise, her mother’s home turns out to be exactly where she finds the answers she’s been searching for.

Victorine is about the forming of new cultures by adapting and blending different sides of yourself. We want to showcase this duality, the loneliness of it, and the richness of that fusion when it’s achieved. 

TONE

This is a piece about family and culture. About generations and cycles of heritage, about a coming and going. Death and birth. The tone should live in between all of these places, containing both heaviness and levity. Darkness and brightness. The Haunted and enchanted. 

WHERE WILL THE FUNDING GO?

We hope to provide authenticity to every aspect of the project by honoring the material as it stands on the page––the clothing, the location, and the characters.

We want our audience to enter Vicky's world. This means we must take extra care with art direction, production design, and costuming. Funding will help us bring the rich textures of her world to life as we create what she'd wear, how a Vodou ritual feels, and where the story takes place. 

Your support helps us bring together a crew across the Black diaspora in the U.S. and Haiti together to choreograph this special film. It will also go to keep this crew safe and provide all necessary COVID-19 precautions.  

OUR STRETCH GOALS: 

While the magic is already happening, our final spell will be cast in post-production. We hope to hire a visual effects artist to illustrate the vivid dreamscape Victorine uses to communicate with Vicky. 

WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU! THANK YOU!

Pledge: Every little bit counts! 

Follow: Help us keep the momentum going by following us on Instagram @VictorineFilm

Share: Use the hashtag #victorinefilm and share our Seed&Spark campaign. 

Keep an eye out for updates... 

We don't want our relationship with you to end here. We want to share this film with you. We expect a robust festival run for all you film lovers. By following us on social media and making a pledge on Seed&Spark, you'll be able to get all the information as to where and when Victorine is screening and how you can attend! 

For opportunities to become a producer or Executive producer or make a tax deductible gift please reach out to [email protected]