‘Live Action Shorts Showcase’ Directors on Breaking Harmful Hollywood Clichés Through Representation
Despite the wide range of topics shorts directors Verónica Echegui, Vanessa Beletic, Brianna Devons and actor Lamar Usher bring to the table through stories of dance, resilience and acting, the group shares a common goal of breaking tired Hollywood clichés by adding voices of authenticity to the existing narratives.“Hollywood has done a great disservice to the Haitian community,” Beletic told TheWrap during the “Live Action Shorts Showcase” for the 2022-2023 Awards Season Screening Series. “Anytime Haiti comes up in any conversation, when it comes to cinema, we think of voodoo, which has been co opted and used and bastardized and turned into something that’s like, demonic and scary.