Shirley Bruno

Shirley Bruno was born in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a Master’s degree from the London Film School and a Master II from Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains.

Her films are inspired by her Haitian heritage, both preserving and radically reimagining ancestral traditions and mythology. Through a docu-fictional approach, she creates modern myths which explore the dark spaces between the physical and metaphysical worlds, between collective memory and history. She delves into the intimate violence of unspoken truths that leave lasting marks.

Her films have screened at festivals such as IKFF Hamburg, Uppsala International Short Film Fest, Zinebi Bilbao, and in museums such as le Palais de Tokyo, the European House of Photography, Villa Medici, Galerie Municipale de Vitry Jean Collet, and FRAC Dunkerque.

She lives and works between France, Haiti, and New York.

Just Come // Been To

LIM | Less is More 2018

A fierce and cynical lawyer lives alone in Haiti. Her niece, an idealistic documentary filmmaker, returns to live on the family land after spending most of her life abroad. She rediscovers the ancestral home where she was born, passed down through generations. As the two women live together in tension within a house steeped in history and family secrets, long-silenced voices begin to speak. The niece gradually comes to understand her aunt’s path—why she alone stayed in Haiti while the rest of the family built lives elsewhere. But she also uncovers a long-standing family feud over the ancestral land—and her aunt’s ruthless plan to claim it.

A blend of fiction and documentary, the film portrays a middle-class Haitian family and highlights the invisible lines often drawn between those who stay and those who leave.