Shamira Raphaëla

Shamira Raphaëla (born 1982) is an Aruban–Dutch filmmaker. She is best known as the director of documentaries Daddy and the Warlord, Deal With It and Our Motherland.

Personal life She was born in 1982 in the Caribbean and grew up in Aruba to a Dutch mother and a Curaçao father. Initially, she started to work as an independent director where she directed several television programs: Expeditie Robinson and Spuiten en Slikken.

In 2006, Raphaela produced and directed her maiden short film With Salt In My Eyes. The short deals about three young Aruban women. After the success of several shorts, she made her first feature documentary Deal With It. The film received critical acclaim and later awarded at the Los Angeles Urban Film Festival, the Belize International Film Festival and the Aruba International Film Festival. The film revolves around the story of two drug dealers and addicts: father Pempy and brother Andy, actually her family members. The film was nominated for best Debut at the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) 2015. In 2017, the film was awarded with the Lenno and the Sunfish the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) prize for the Best Youth Documentary.

Filmography Year Film Role Genre Ref. 2010 Serious Request segment director TV special 2010 Spuiten en Slikken Director TV series documentary 2012 Vier handen op één buik Director TV series 2013 Welkom bij de Kamara's Director TV series 2014 Chantal blijft slapen Director TV series 2014 Deal with it Director, writer Documentary 2016 Expeditie Robinson Director TV series 2017 Lenno and the Angelfish Director, writer Documentary short 2019 Daddy and the Warlord Director, writer TV movie documentary 2019 Our Motherland Director, writer Documentary TBD Downfall of a Superwoman Director, writer Documentary TBD De Peperklip Director, writer Documentary