Support a black, queer, Colombian filmmaker

My name is Ana María Jessie Serna, a young Afro-Colombian, queer, Raizal Caribbean Islander. I am a leader, researcher and filmmaker. My film "Because I Know How Beautiful My Being Is" will have it's UK premiere on 22 September 2023 but I do not have the resources to attend. After attempting multiple institutional funds with no success, I come to ask for your support to cover the costs of travelling from Colombia to the UK.

This is a major opportunity as my film will be screened at the 13th Fringe! Queer Film and Arts Fest, which select between 10 to 15% of the productions that are sent, with an audience of approximately 4.000 (four thousand) people, in different theatres in the city of London, from 16-24 September 2023.

I have an undergraduate degree in History from the National University of Colombia, a specialisation in Governance, Human Rights and Culture of Peace from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and a Master's degree in Visual Anthropology from the University of Manchester. I am a documentary filmmaker since 2018.

"Because I Know How Beautiful My Being Is" is my latest short film, a documentary essay that focuses on the diverse corporealities of black and queer communities in Manchester, Liverpool and London, England. It is a project that I did as a thesis to graduate with merit from the MA in Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester, being one of the first Colombian women to complete this programme at one of the most important universities in the world. It is a self-financed documentary, the result of various independent works, with the support provided by the prestigious Chevening scholarship programme, and the collaboration of Afro women and queer people from Colombia, England, Brazil and South Sudan. It is a project in which I direct, write, edit, produce, camera, subtitle, and distribute. The film had its world premiere at the Pulling Focus African American Film Festival of The Quad Cities (2023), USA, winning the award for Best Student Film.

I believe my film is full of potential and I would love to reunite with the community that made it possible and watch it together.

One love

ANA