Geretta-Geretta
Writer, director, television producer, poetess and former actress, Geretta/Geretta, a multi-faceted African-American woman, has work spanning the globe, from Northern Ireland to South Africa, Rome to New York City.
Although presently in Switzerland, Geretta began her career as an comedy actress in New Yorks off-off Broadway theatre scene at Theatre For The New City and the improv-comedy group RUSTY NAILS before making a full time career in Italy working on television (RAI UNO) in comedy and appearing in over twenty feature films including DEMONS, produced by cult film director Dario Argento.
Her work in front of the camera sparked her desire to go behind the camera, to make the movies instead of be in them. She relocated to Los Angeles, where she was accepted into The American Film Institute Master Program in Screenwriting. During this time she wrote and directed a number of shorts such as WHEN FISH FLY and LOVE TO SHARE as well as making public service announcements and a spot on spec for Levis. Walt Disneys Writers Fellowship also recognized her work and she was a Second Round Finalist twice for the Sundance Screenwriting Lab/Feature Film programs in 1994 and 1996.
Originally planning to stay in Belfast, Northern Ireland for three weeks, her love of their culture and arts movement led her to stay for two years, first interning for six months with the award winning film collective Northern Visions, teaching a number of cross community writing seminars for first time and professionals from both Protestant and Catholic communities.
During her tenure in Belfast Geretta was the recipient of a number of film grants, including the 1997 Northern Ireland Film Council Study Grant (the first American to receive one). She was also the first American to receive a grant to attend University College Dublins Writing the Screenplay where she completed her feature-length screenplay, SWEETIECAKES which was conceived and written in 1997.
Geretta worked as a television producer for Ulster Television, appearing on camera with her segment series GERETTA GERETTA LOOKS AT Belfasts first experiment in lite news and later directed the short film, HOMESICK produced with generous materials grants from the BBC.
As an African American, Geretta/Geretta has built on her experiences with life and living in different countries. Her fluency in Italian was vital to writing, directing and producing Centro Voci Contro Apartheid (100 Voice Against Apartheid), contibuting to the protest campaign via an international cast of celecbrites..
She has published a collection of one hundred poems called PARDON ME WHILE I EAT MY YOUNG and is in pre-production on SHE ASKED FOR IT a romantic comedy about a forgetful woman who can't tremeber she took a hit out on herself until she starts losing fingers and friends!
Geretta premiered HOMESICK at the Tribeca Film Center and shortly there after produced staged readings of SWEETIECAKES across Manahtten raising the initial budget. Soon after the project was picked up by a Swiss Producer. Geretta had the screenplay adapted into German and rewrote the story to take place in Winterthur: Switzerland's biggest little city.
SWEETIECAKES won Geretta BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR, Melbourne Underground Festival 2002.
SWEETIECAKES is Geretta's first feature film.
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Geretta from Vogue Magazine
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