Despite the wide range of topics shorts directors Verónica Echegui, Vanessa Beletic, Brianna Devons and actor Lamar Usher bring to the table through stories of dance, resilience and acting, the group shares a common goal of breaking tired Hollywood clichés by adding voices of authenticity to the existing narratives.

“Hollywood has done a great disservice to the Haitian community,” Beletic told TheWrap during the “Live Action Shorts Showcase” for the 2022-2023 Awards Season Screening Series. “Anytime Haiti comes up in any conversation, when it comes to cinema, we think of voodoo, which has been co opted and used and bastardized and turned into something that’s like, demonic and scary. I’m not an expert in that space, but I do feel a sense of responsibility to help destigmatize my people in any way that I can.”

While Beletic’s “Catching Spirits” focuses on the story of a young girl...