Frances-Anne Solomon

Frances-Anne Solomon is a director, producer and writer in film, TV, radio, theatre, and new media. Born in England of Trinidadian parents, she was raised and educated in the Caribbean and Canada, lived and worked in the UK for several years, and has been based in Toronto since 1999.

Her directing credits include the sitcom Lord Have Mercy! (VisionTV, 2003) the feature film PEGGY SU! (BBC Films, 1997); the dramas What My MOTHER TOLD ME (Channel 4, 1995), and BIDESHIi (British Film Institute, 1994); and documentaries LITERATURE ALIVE (Bravo!/OMNI, 2006), REUNION (BBC,1993), and I IS A LONG MEMORIED WOMAN (Arts Council of England 1991).

As well as directing, Frances-Anne is the Artistic Director and President of the two companies she founded, Leda Serene Films, her film and television production vehicle, and CaribbeanTales, a prolific not-for-profit company that makes multimedia products aimed at the educational market.

Most recently she created, produced and directed the multi-facetted Literature Alive project, comprising 20 documentaries exploring the life and work of Caribbean authors from the '60s through the hip-hop generation (for Bravo! CLT, BookTV, and OMNI TV); a series of audio books (for the Trillium Foundation), and the DCH funded educational website LiteratureAliveOnline.

She was the co-creator, producer and director of Lord Have Mercy! Canada's first multi-cultural sitcom, which aired on Vision TV, Toronto/one, Showcase and APTN in 2003 and was nominated for two Gemini Awards: Best Comedy series, and Best Individual Performer (Leonie Forbes)

Between 1992-98, Frances-Anne was a producer and executive producer for BBC Single Drama & Films, responsible for several films and TV movies, including the Black Screen strand, (for black writers, producers and directors) and Screen on the Tube (for new feature directors). Productions include Speak Like A Child, director John Akomfrah, Love Is The Devil, director John Maybury, The Sixth Happiness, director Waris Hossein, Flight, director Alex Pillai and Siren Spirits, directors Ngozi Onwurah, Pratibha Parmar and Dani Williamson. She previously worked as a radio drama producer/director for the BBC, producing some 35 radio plays, and as a documentary researcher and director for The Bandung File (Channel 4) and Ebony (BBC2).

She studied Theatre at the University of Toronto with Steve Martineau and Ken Gass, and poetry with Jay MacPherson; and trained as a film director in the UK at Bristol University’s RFT Programme and the prestigious BBC Drama Directors Course. (09/09)

I Is a Long-Memoried Woman
Produced by Ingrid Lewis, A film by Frances-Anne Solomon, 1990, 50 min., Color
This extraordinary video chronicles the history of slavery through the eyes of Caribbean women. A striking combination of monologue, dance, and song—g...

Siren Spirits
A film by Ngozi Onwurah, Pratibha Parmar, Frances-Anne Solomon, Dani Williamson, 1994, 80 min., Color/BW
SIREN SPIRITS is a wonderful feature comprising four short dramas directed by women of color, produced by Leda Serene for the British Film Institute a...

What My Mother Told Me
A film by Frances-Anne Solomon, 1995, 57 min., Color/BW
Exquisitely beautiful and profoundly moving, WHAT MY MOTHER TOLD ME is a dramatic journey towards self discovery. The story focuses on Jesse, a young...