Follow your dreams and life may take you to unexpected places.
That is the advice of 39-year-old filmmaker Mandela Gregoire, who speaks from experience, as his passion for film has led him to work with various celebrities and taken him around the world.
Born in Maryland, US, and based in New York, he is the son of a Dominican father and a Panamanian mother, executive director of the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) Dr Natalia Kanem.
Gregoire, who considers himself a director and cinematographer, has worked on many types of film projects, including music videos, commercials, travel documentaries, wildlife videos, fashion videos and shows, including some for fashion designer LaQuan Smith, a friend of his, whose creations have been worn by models and celebrities such as Beyonce, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian.
Gregoire is also a photographer and recently held his first photography exhibition, Wanderlust, at Arnim’s Art Galleria in Port of Spain. Although he is primarily a filmmaker, photography was his first love, so he has been waiting on an opportunity to exhibit his photos for a long time.
He said a friend was organising a show of Cuban art at Arnim’s and suggested he contribute some of his work from that country. One thing led to another and it became his exhibition. On display were about 30 wildlife and portrait pieces, mainly from Cuba and Africa, and a few from Asia and the Caribbean, including two from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
“It was truly a pleasure to do my first exhibition in Trinidad, a place that means a lot to me and my family, and has been so good to us for so many years.”
He explained that when he was three, family friends who lived in Arima – Mavis and Allan Williams from Dominica and Guyana – respectively, invited them to Trinidad for Carnival.
“My mom and I came down for Carnival and we both kind of fell in love with it. I mean, I was still pretty young, but it definitely was a vibe. We kept coming back for years and years and years, so I grew up with my mom playing mas, primarily (Peter) Minshall. Trinidad just kind of welcomed us with open arms and became a second home of sorts.
“From a young age I fell in love with the culture, the music and the people, so it's always been a very special place for us. And over the past 35 years, we've been coming there and my mom's been bringing friends from all over – from work, friends from Africa, friends from different parts of the world. She was just like, ‘You guys have got to come to Trinidad for Carnival.’"
Gregoire told Sunday Newsday he had an interest in photography from a young age, as his paternal grandfather was a professional photographer in Dominica and his father was an amateur photographer.
[caption id="attachment_1048237" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Family friends : (L-R) Mavis Williams, Mandela Gregoire, Allan Williams and Natalia Williams pose in front of a picture of a Minshall mas costume taken by Gregoire. Photos courtesy Mandela Gregoire. -[/caption]
Although he grew up between Dominica, the US and
