Synopsis:
Set in 1964 Haiti, during the reign of François Duvalier, Ti Zwazo (Little Bird) tells the story of Rene, and his family as they navigate the dangers of political unrest. On his eleventh birthday, Rene’s life is filled with wonder, but the volatile political climate quickly shatters his innocence. Rene’s father, Louis, a military officer, becomes involved in an attempted coup against Duvalier’s oppressive regime. When the coup fails, Louis sends Rene home with a mission: to retrieve his mother, Rose, and bring her to the Brazilian embassy for safety. Pregnant and struggling to keep up, Rose’s physical exhaustion forces her and Rene to part ways. She urges her son to press ahead and ensure their path is clear. As Rene confronts the stark realities of their perilous situation, he must find courage far beyond his years. Ti Zwazo is a moving exploration of love, resilience, and sacrifice in the face of political turmoil, highlighting a family’s unwavering hope and determination to survive.
Key Personnel:
Writer/Director: Misha Bernier is a dynamic and passionate first-generation Haitian-Filipina American writer/director, whose upbringing in an immigrant household has profoundly shaped her artistic vision. In her family, stories were cherished and woven into the fabric of her cultural heritage, instilling in her a deep belief that storytelling is a universal language. Misha is driven by the conviction that stories can bridge divides, evoke laughter, expand consciousness, and foster healing. As a filmmaker, Misha has written and directed several short films. She takes particular pride in a short documentary currently in post-production, which intimately captures the remarkable journey of her ninety-five year old grandmother, a courageous survivor of the Duvalier regime in Haiti. This profoundly personal exploration forms the foundation for her latest short film, “Ti Zwazo” (Little Bird), set to begin production in Spring 2025. Set in 1964 and based on her family’s true story, Ti Zwazo follows a spirited eleven year old Haitian boy, forced to navigate treacherous waters as he becomes entangled in his father’s coup d’état, ultimately having to safeguard his family. Misha’s creative talents extend beyond directing. She is an associate producer on the independent feature film “Skaters.” Misha is also an actress, represented by Luber Roklin Entertainment and Independent Artist Group, further enriching her understanding of storytelling and performance.
Producer: Okema T. Moore is a passionate multi-hyphenate, Emmy Nominated, PGA producer/director, who has created long and short form content with the likes of OWN, Netflix, STARZ, BET, Disney/Marvel and more. Writing, producing and directing branded work, indie shorts, digital projects and television allows Okema to put her whole self into every nook and cranny of the work. She is committed to proving that good stories come from all corners of life and that they deserve to be told by the most unlikely people! Her scripted shorts and series have premiered at Tribeca N.O.W., Outfest, Reel Sisters, etc. Most recently Okema produced her second ABFF winning narrative project, taking home the coveted HBO Short Competition prize, making it an Oscar qualifier. She also won a development grant from Tribeca x Canva for a feature film she’s set to produce in 2025 at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Okema has been a fellow for a host of labs and programs, and serves on the Board of both NYWIFT and The Black TV & Film Collective. She is committed to lifting while she climbs to raise the voices of marginalized men, womxn and others across the globe.
Producer: Audrey Rosenberg is a NY-based, Peabody-Award-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmaker known for her ability to cultivate talent, develop material and champion projects from inception through to release. She has recently been focusing on writing and directing in both the documentary and narrative space. Audrey has a unique ability to remain outside the Hollywood system while also working within it to promote authentic storytelling and to advocate for healing projects that deserve visibility. Audrey co-founded Invisible Pictures, a NY-based woman-led production company focused on authentic representation, and has since returned to independent producing. For Invisible, Audrey was lead producer and co-writer on the award-winning HBO Original documentary KATRINA BABIES that premiered at Tribeca 2022 in competition and aired on HBO August 2022. She produced the award-winning film BULL, which premiered at Cannes 2019, Executive Produced the series SOUL CITY (with JEEN-YUHS: A KANYE TRILOGY directors Coodie&Chike) which premiered on Topic in April 2020, and produced the feature LONG WEEKEND, which was released by Sony in March 2021. Audrey is an EP on Sandi Dubowski’s highly anticipated SABBATH QUEEN which world premiered at Tribeca 2024. Other credits include EP (with Steven Soderbergh) on the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary HIS WAY, and EP on HBO’s Emmy-winning BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA (with Edward Norton). Audrey was part of the producing team on Douglas McGrath’s INFAMOUS (starring Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, and Toby Jones). She produced Sean Gullette’s award-winning feature, TRAITORS, Co-EP’d Dawn Porter’s award-winning TRAPPED and was Consulting Producer for the multi-award winning and Academy-Award nominated I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO. Audrey is a member of the Television Academy, the newly formed Producer’s Union, the Producers Guild of America and serves on the board of New York Women In Film and Television.
Executive Producer: Anthony Ramos is a Grammy®-winning artist, Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominated actor who starred in this summer’s hit, TWISTERS for Universal directed by Academy® Award nominee, Lee Isaac Chung. The film opened #1 at the box office. Ramos starred in TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS, which opened #1 at the box office, world wide and can be seen in Sony’s recent feature, DUMB MONEY directed by Craig Gillespie. He can be seen starring in Marvel’s forthcoming limited series, IRON HEART for Disney +. Ramos is known for inaugurating the dual roles of “John Laurens” and “Philip Hamilton” in the critically acclaimed, TONY Award-winning Broadway musical and feature film, HAMILTON in which he was Emmy nominated. He went on to star as the lead in Jon M. Chu’s IN THE HEIGHTS, the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Musical, which was released in theaters and streaming via HBO Max. For his portrayal of “Usnavi” Ramos earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Film and was included in Indie Wire and W Magazine’s year-end Best Performance round-up. Additional credits include HBO’s reimagining of the Emmy® Award-winning series IN TREATMENT opposite Uzo Aduba, his role opposite Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in the Academy® Award-winning film A STAR IS BORN, starring as ‘Mars Blackmon’ in Spike Lee’s critically-acclaimed Netflix series SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, playing Mr. Piranha in the animated feature BAD GUYS for Dreamwork and voicing ‘King Trollex’ in Paramount’s animated feature film, TROLLS WORLD TOUR. Ramos earned rave reviews for his role as ‘Manny’ in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s award-winning film MONSTERS AND MEN, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the Special Jury Prize. Ramos, a multi-hyphenate, is a recording artist and signed to Republic Records. embracing his Latin music roots like never before on his recent singles “Villano” and “Se Fue” via Republic Records. He is currently in development with Mattel Films, Shadow Machine, and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions on a new animated version of BOB THE BUILDER that he is producing and will also star in. Anthony Ramos, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Executive Producer/Film Composer: Michaël Brun. An increasingly vital force on the global dance scene, Haitian artist/producer Michaël Brun brings both forward-thinking vision and culture-blending sensibilities to songs with massive appeal. Over the years, the New York City-based multi-instrumentalist has earned acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard, The FADER,Variety, V Magazine and Esquire (who declared that Brun “might be the biggest thing to come out of Haiti in the 21st century”); collaborated with such eclectic superstars as Ed Sheeran and J Balvin; and launched his own wildly popular music festival with BAYO — a traveling festival that began as a block party in Haiti in 2016 and included sold-out dates in Paris, Montreal and Miami in 2023. A near-lifelong musician who grew up in Haiti and later pursued a career in medicine in the U.S., Brun ultimately left school to tour the world as a DJ – a turn of events that found him working with the likes of Tiësto and Calvin Harris. As he ventured into production, he soon achieved such triumphs as winning a Latin GRAMMY® Award for his work on Balvin’s 2020 album Colores, all while releasing a steady stream of highly successful remixes and genre-bending original tracks. After signing with Astralwerks/Capitol Records in early 2023, Brun powered through a blockbuster year that included making his label debut with the critically lauded EP FAMI Summer, winning the Best DJ prize at the Trace Awards & Festival, experiencing a colossal spike in his global following and bringing BAYO to a crowd of 5,000 at New York City’s Central Park. Michael will be composing an original score for Ti Zwazo and, through his local connections in Haiti, will provide invaluable in-kind music and fixer services to help manage budget costs effectively.
Producer: Gaëthan Chancy is a producer from Haiti, currently based in Washington, DC. In 2007, he co-founded Muska Group, an audio-visual production company based in Port-au-Prince. He produced numerous commercials and institutional films, several of which have won international awards. In 2015, he co-produced “Lakou Kajou,” Haiti’s first children’s educational television program. In 2017, he produced the mid-length feature film “Kafou,” which won several awards and nominations. He was an executive producer for the short documentary “Braves” (2021). His projects to be released in 2024 include his first full-length feature, “Kidnapping Inc.” ( which premiered at Sundance 2024) and the documentary “Avec Naomie.” Producer: Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. is a renowned creative producer, writer, and activist based in Haiti. As the general manager of Muska Group, a leading production company, he has specialized in advertising for over a decade. In 2014, he launched his career by writing and producing the first children’s TV series “Lakou Kajou.” A year later, he co-founded Muska Films to tell stories that matter, believing in the power of cinema to shape perceptions and challenge beliefs. In 2017, Gilbert co-wrote and produced his first mid-length feature, “Kafou,” which received nominations for Best Film at the Austin Film Festival and Orlando Film Festival. His talent was recognized by Movie Maker Magazine in 2018, naming him one of the 25 screenwriters to watch. Later on, he executive produced the award-winning short documentary “Brave” in 2021 and “Port of a Prince” in 2022. His debut feature film, “Kidnapping Inc.,” premiered at Sundance in 2024. Currently, Gilbert is focused on his upcoming documentary projects, “Dreams of Elsewhere” and “The Picture.” He is an alumni of several producer labs such as the Fiction Toolbox at EFM, Open Doors at Locarno, Producers under the Spotlight at Cannes, and Eurodoc.
