Shari Petti is a Trinidadian film director, cinematographer and writer with over a decade of practice exploring Caribbean identity, culture and history. A Fulbright Scholar, she holds an MFA in Cinematography from Florida State University, plus BAs in Film Production and Film Studies from the University of the West Indies.

Recent work includes Pursuit of Wellness, directed and shot in St. Lucia for BBC StoryWorks (2025), along with cinematography on Is It True That?, an ARTE documentary on global sugar production (2026).

Petti’s films span documentary, narrative and experimental work. Sorf Hair (2017), a short documentary on natural hair discrimination in Trinidad and Tobago, won People’s Choice at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, with nominations at the Pan African Film Festival and Nouveaux Regards Film Festival. The narrative short Fantastic Friday (2023) has screened at the London Short Film Festival, CaribbeanTales Film Festival, festivals across the Caribbean, and Rio Cinema in London via Minute Shorts.

The docu-series Mas Prep (2020-2026) celebrates the behind-the-scenes artistry of traditional Mas in Trinidad, playing to full houses at the South London Gallery and Oxford Brookes University. It anchors Mas+Movies, a curated carnival film programme combining original work, Fantastic Friday and archival films. The programme has run three editions in Trinidad: two sold-out runs at the Black Box, then a two-week run at MovieTowne that also sold out. It has travelled to London’s Rio Cinema with support from Hackney Council, Dominica’s Prevo Cinemall and Casa del Cinema in Venice, Italy.

Petti’s commercial work has earned 13 ADDY Awards, including Best of Show at the 2024 Caribbean Advertising Federation Awards, plus Best of Online and Gold for Best Social Media Campaign at the 2026 District 4 level in Florida.

Petti has held residencies at Alice Yard (Trinidad), Oxford Brookes University (UK) and Le Studio Lumina (Martinique), with fellowships through the Caribbean Film Academy at the Third Horizon Film Festival and One World Media in the UK. She was a visiting lecturer at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, through the Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility programme. She teaches Cinematography and Fundamentals of Film Production at UWI St. Augustine, and is the founder and creative director of Scene Productions Limited (scenepresents.com).

Musical collaborators include: esperanza spalding, Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin, Freetown Collective, Mical Teja, 3canal, Jimmy October.

Festivals & Exhibitions

• 2026 Corps/Machines: The Popular Sublime, photo and video exhibition | Hangar Blanc, Carcassonne, France, June 8 to Sep 30
• 2025-2026 Mas+Movies Carnival Screening: Casa del Cinema, Venice | Rio Cinema, London | MovieTowne, Trinidad | Prevo Cinemall, Dominica (Curator)
• 2024 Carnival as an Archive: Shari Petti | South London Gallery, hosted by writer and cultural producer Yaya Azariah Clarke and with Dr June Givanni from the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive (JGPACA). Curated by Lauren Gee
• 2023-25 Fantastic Friday screened at London Short Film Festival | Minute Shorts at Rio Cinema (UK) | Picturehouse (UK) | Oxford Brookes (UK) | Timehri FF (Guyana) | CaribbeanTales (Toronto) | GATTFEST (Jamaica) | Director/DP/Writer
• 2023 Now That I Am A River, experimental film | Alice Yard & Y Art Gallery (Trinidad) | White Box Gallery (NYC) | Co-Director/DP
• 2022 Daze, short film | Screamfest LA | Pan African Film Festival | Director/Writer
• 2019 elsewheres are beginning and ends | Sharjah Biennial 14 (UAE) | Cinematographer, directed by Christopher Cozier
• 2017 Sorf Hair | Pan African Film Festival (Best Documentary Short Nomination) | Nouveaux Regards Film Festival (Best Documentary Short Nomination) | Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival (People’s Choice, Best Documentary Film) | Director/Cinematographer

Residencies & Fellowships

• 2026 Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility, Ca’ Foscari University, Italy
• 2025 Caribbean Emerging Artist Award, Fresh Milk Barbados
• 2024 Artist-in-Residence, Le Studio Lumina, Martinique
• 2024 Artist-in-Residence, Oxford Brookes University, UK
• 2024 Caribbean Film Academy Fellow, Third Horizon Film Festival
• 2020 One World Media Fellow, UK
• 2020 Fulbright Scholar, Florida State University, USA | MFA Cinematography

↑ Top