The Filmmaker's Life with Michael Lees - 05/04/23

Our guest this week was Michael Lees, a documentary filmmaker who documented his 6-month challenge to live in the forests of Dominica and ended riding out a Category 5 Hurricane in a palm leaf and bamboo hut. Michael graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015, where he spent the first half of his college career studying business at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, later switching his major from business to communication studies with a focus on media production. In 2019, Michael released his debut documentary, Uncivilized, which led him into the forests of Dominica, where he would face Hurricane Maria alone in a palm leaf and bamboo hut. The film premiered at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival 2019 and went on to screen at festivals including the Brooklyn Film Festival and The Pan-African Film Festival in LA. It won the Caribbean Spirit Award in 2020 at the Barbados Independent Film Festival and the Villa Romana Award at the African Diaspora Cinema Festival in Florence, Italy. Michael has written, shot, and edited for a range of clients including Billboard, UNICEF, and National Geographic. He has exhibited his film & photography work across the Caribbean, US, UK, and is a proud member of the Waitukubuli Artist Association. Michael runs a video production company in Dominica called One Off Productions. Watch Michael's film "Uncivilized" here https://uncivilizedfilm.com/ To obtain the Zoom link for upcoming live interviews, you must register at The Filmmaker's Life webpage at https://www.filmmakersuccess.com/The-Filmmakers-Life-Home