Director's Bio
In 2003 Shelley was
awarded a full scholarship from the Ford Foundation to study towards
her Master of Fine Arts in Film in the United States. She graduated
cum laude from Temple University in Philadelphia. Her films have
screened at major festivals and events around the world and been
acquired by public television in the States.
Recent awards include an
Audre Lorde award for media, Distinguished Graduate Student Award
from the Pennsylvania Association of Graduate schools and three Best
film awards at international festivals in NYC, San Francisco and
Philadelphia for her first film, an experimental documentary titled
“Whole - A Trinity of Being” This film has also been awarded the
Jury Citation Award at the Black Maria Film Festival in the USA and
was selected to screen at The Cape Town World Cinema Festival and
the Encounters Documentary film festival in South Africa, along with
several other screenings around the world and has been acquired by
WYBE and MTV in the USA.
The film has also been
selected to screen in the New York African Film Festival’s
travelling showcase of contemporary African film.
The work-in-progress
version of her thesis film, “Where we planted trees” was recently
awarded “Best Documentary” at Temple University’s annual showcase of
student films. This film was shot in her hometown of the Eastern
Cape, which serves as her base.
Born and raised in the
Eastern Cape, South Africa, Shelley Barry completed graduate studies
in English and Drama at the University of Cape Town and University
of the Western Cape. She has worked extensively as a disability
rights activist, following a shooting in the Cape taxi wars of 1996
that resulted in her being a wheelchair user.
She worked most recently
as the Media Manager in the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons
in the Presidency in South Africa. She initially worked in
disability politics in South Africa’s Parliament as the National
Parliamentary Policy Co-ordinator for Disabled People South Africa,
during the Presidency of Nelson Mandela.
Shelley is also a
playwright, having written two plays that were performed in theatres
in South Africa, namely “ Insignificant Others” (2000) and “En Route
to bury Sara Baartman” (2003) both dealing in some way with
oppression faced by women.
She was one of the editors
and featured writer of South Africa’s first multi-genre anthology of
black women’s writing, “Ink@Boiling Point: A selection of 21st
century black women’s writing from the southern tip of Africa” first
published by WEAVE in 2000. Her poetry is also featured in a South
African anthology, namely “Lovely beyond any singing” published by
Doublestorey in 2006.
In the area of visual
media, she has worked in television as a program compliance advisor
for South Africa’s first independent television station, etv, where
she was instrumental in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and
disability through championing certain programming.
She completed short
training in video, including a short course by acclaimed director
Mira Nair and training by Deutsche Welle TV. She was based as an
intern for a brief period with the BBC’s Disability Production Unit
in London. She was appointed as a Chief Examiner of the South
African Film and Publications Board. Shelley also served on the
board of Mediaworks, a community media organization and she
currently serves on the board of Children and Broadcasting
Foundation for Africa. She is also an office bearer of an
organization in South Africa: Art for Development, run by South
Africa’s first black female feature filmmaker, Meganthrie Pillay.
Shelley is an active
anti-gun lobbyist and recently addressed the United Nations in NYC.
She is currently in
pre-production for her 2007 series of films, namely “New York/New
Brighton”, “Canvas” and “cellphone” and is completing post
production on video art pieces, namely “Str/oll”, “Umbilical Cord”,
“Retrato/Portrait”, “Where are my heels?” and “Cry like the Loons”.
She initiated The Black
Elephant Film Series in the Eastern Cape- a project that aims to
provide alternative venues for the screening and distribution of
independent film and video art.
The University of Witwatersrand in
Johannesburg has recently announced that Shelley has been selected
as their Carnegie Fellow of 2007 in the TV and Film department.
She will be based there from July,
working on new films and on the aesthetics of cinematography from
the perspective of a wheelchair user.
|
