Insight & interviews with the hottest global filmmakers of color

Soleil Spotlight

Here’s the first-ever behind-the-scenes look at the world’s most trailblazing filmmakers & industry executives of the diasporas of Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East! Hear their personal career journeys and hilarious cultural moments. Immerse yourself into the world of film & TV while expanding your knowledge of different global cultures.

Season 2 Season 1

2021-07-22 S2 E9

Aml Ameen

British-Caribbean Actor & Director on finding his path and on directing his first major feature film

Riding the high of the success of British cult classic Kidulthood, the highly popular Netflix show Sense 8, to landing the role of D in Yardie after bumping into Idris Elba in an airport, & to playing the fallible character of Simon in HBO's I May Destroy You.

2021-07-08 S2 E8

Ivan Herrera

Dominican Director on making transcultural films and Caribbean representation

Bantú Mama is making waves on the festival circuit having just closed this year's Third Horizon Film Festival. All the way from the Dominican Republic we have filmmaker Ivan Herrera with us!

2021-06-24 S2 E7

Romola Lucas

ROMOLA LUCAS, GUYANESE LAWYER, FILMMAKER AND THIRD HORIZON FESTIVAL FOUNDER ON LIFTING UP UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES

Founder of the Caribbean Film Academy and Director of Third Horizon Film Festival ( one of the best festivals in the world). From marine biologist and geologist to now lawyer, and film producer. Romola's story of perseverance proves to us that you really can do it all!

2021-06-01 S2 E6

Sofian Khan

PAKISTANI - BRITISH DIRECTOR ON CREATING MULTILAYERED STORIES FROM THE DIASPORA AND BEYOND.

Emmy-nominated director, cinematographer and founder of Capital K Pictures, Sofian Khan joins us with a truly beautiful and inspiring conversation. Sofian spoke to us about his desire to create multilayered diaspora stories of art imitating life.

2021-04-29 S2 E5

Storm Saulter

JAMAICAN FILMMAKER AND ARTIST STORM SAULTER ON INFUSING & UPLIFTING THE CARIBBEAN INTO LIFE AND WORK.

From creating concert visuals for Beyonce and Jay-Z, to being mentored by the legendary Director X, to having Will & Jada Smith as Executive producers, we have Jamaican filmmaker and visual artist Storm Saulter this week!

2021-04-15 S2 E4

Joseph Patel

INDIAN-AMERICAN WRITER & PRODUCER ON CHOOSING A LESS-TRADITIONAL CAREER PATH AND HOW BETTING ON HIMSELF WAS HIS BEST BET YET.

Academy Award, BAFTA and Independent Spirit Award-winning producer, writer, director, and a truly gifted storyteller. The first-ever South Asian to win an Oscar in the category of documentary feature, what an incredible year it has been for Joseph Patel!

2021-03-31 S2 E3

Rucha Pathak

INDIAN PRODUCER AND STORYTELLER ON A GLOBAL UPBRINGING & RETURNING TO INDIA TO TELL STORIES THAT MATTER.

The name behind critically acclaimed film titles like Paan Singh Tomar and Neerja ( both produced by two major production companies Foxstar Studios & UTV Motion Pictures).

2021-03-18 S2 E2

Brenda Gilbert

CANADIAN ENTREPRENEUR AND PRODUCER ON LIFTING UP WOMEN IN FILM, AND PUTTING CHILI PEPPERS ON … EVERYTHING.

With 6 Oscar wins and 32 Oscar-nominated films, The true definition of a powerhouse boss lady is Brenda Gilbert. Behind various notable film titles like The Joker, Judas & The Black Messiah, & Queen & Slim.

2021-03-02 S2 E1

Toni Kamau

KENYAN FILMMAKER MAKES THE CASE FOR THE STORIES OF OUTSIDERS, REBELS, AND CHANGEMAKERS.

Peabody, IDA, & PGA-nominated producer Toni Kamau is setting the records as the youngest female documentary producer to be invited to the Academy. Toni taught us about Sheng ( a slang language originating from the mix of Swahili and English).

2021-02-18 Special Episode

Micha Cooper- Edwards

MICHA COOPER-EDWARDS MAKES A LIFELONG ARGUMENT FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WHOLE GLOBE.

For this special episode of Spotlight Podcast, we shine the light inwards and talk to our incredible Soleil Space founder and CEO about her story, her upbringing in Trinidad & Tobago to her moves all over the world, and how Soleil Space formed from a vision to reality.

2020-12-04 S1 E11

AKIN OMOTOSO

AKIN OMOTOSO IS OUR MAN ON GROUND IN SOUTH AFRICA

Creator of award-winning films like Vaya and Tell Me Sweet Something. His most recent venture was brought on to direct Greek Freak, a live-action film for Disney+ inspired by the true-life story of NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

2020-11-19 S1 E10

Mariana Saffon

MARIANA SAFFON IS SEARCHING FOR HUMANITY IN STORYTELLING FROM COLOMBIA TO NEW YORK

Venice Film Festival-winning Columbian writer-director, Mariana Saffon. Mariana spoke to us about her non-conventional ways of scripting the highs and lows of being a woman in the film industry.

2020-11-12 S1 E9

Ahmet Boyacioglu

BRINGS INDEPENDENT TURKISH FILMS TO THE WORLD

Turkish former surgeon and now film director, producer and screenwriter Ahmet Boyacioglu is best known for his first feature, Black and White.

2020-10-29 S1 E8

CHIKÉ OKWONKWO

ON ACTING AS ACTIVISM AND GROWING UP NIGERIAN IN LONDON

From being a member of the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, to now you may know him as Lee Truitt from BET's Being Mary Jane or PC Clark in BBC One's New Tricks & spoke to us about growing up in a Nigerian household in South London.

2020-09-24 S1 E7

Maori Karmael Holmes

Becoming a UNIVERSALIST CURATOR OF THE CULTURE

LA-born & Philly-resident, Maori Karmael Holmes is a curator, filmmaker, writer and founder of BlackStar Film Festival: an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and of global communities of color.

2020-09-10 S1 E6

Grace Lee

FROM UCLA TO SEOUL, GRACE LEE INVESTIGATES GRACE LEES AND ASIAN-AMERICAN HISTORIES

Award-winning Korean American independent producer, director & writer Grace Lee is best known for directing documentaries such as The Grace Lee Project and the Peabody award-winning American Revolutionary : The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs.

2020-08-27 S1 E5

Jenni Trang LE

FINDing MOVIE MAGIC IN VIETNAM

Most recently consulting on Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, Producer and poet Jenni Trang Le! Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Jenni has always been a storyteller and after discovering film during university, went on to work on a number of US-based independent projects.

2020-08-13 S1 E4

MOSES BABATOPE

BRINGING THE CINEMA UNIVERSE HOME TO NIGERIA

Moses Babatope is Group Executive Director of Film One Entertainment Group (Film One Productions, Film One Distribution and Filmhouse Cinemas), collectively the biggest film studio, aggregation and cinema exhibition conglomerate in Nigeria.

2020-07-30 S1 E3

Bhaskar Hazarika

NEW STORIES IN OLD PLACES : HIS HOME OF ASSAM.

Award-winning writer and director Bhaskar Hazarika shows us his insights this week on Soleil Spotlight. We're taking you to Assam, India. Bhaskar told us why he moved from working in Bollywood to independent regional films.

2020-07-16 S1 E2

ASHA LOVELACE

AFRO-DIASPORIC STORYTELLING IS IN ASHA LOVELACE’S BLOOD.

Trinidadian filmmaker, founder and festival director of Africa Film TT Festival - annual film festival that showcases the best of contemporary and classic films from the African continent. Her upcoming film project is The Dragon adapted from the Caribbean classic (written by her father Earl Lovelace) The Dragon Can't Dance.

2020-07-01 S1 E1

Paul Pryce

On the journey from acting to directing - from Trinidad & Tobago to Yale and back.

From being an alum of Yale School of Drama, to winning a modelling contest hosted by Oprah! We're having a liming time with actor/writer/director/producer (and model ;).