ELZA

Elza’s mother Bernadette has tried hard to give her daughter everything.  She is thrilled when Elza, the first college graduate in the family, completes her master’s degree. But Elza breaks her mother’s heart by running off to their native Guadeloupe in search of a distant childhood memory:  the father she barely remembers.  Based on director Mariette Monpierre’s own life experience, this feature debut captures the passion and contradictions of a family in transition while offering a rare insider’s view of Caribbean culture.

Director Biography

Mariette Monpierre began her career at BBDO New York producing commercials for Pepsi Cola, Visa, Campbell’s, Bayer, Pizza Hut, Gillette and FedEx.  Her first short film “Rendez-Vous” had a successful run in several major international film festivals. ELZA won three awards at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2012 and was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the Roxbury Film Festival.  ELZA is Monpierre’s first feature length film and the first narrative film by a female director shot in Guadeloupe.