CHANZY BLUES

Malaury Eloi Paisley is a filmmaker and visual artist. She lives and works in Guadeloupe. Her practice lies at the intersection of film, contemporary art, and research, with a particular focus on the relationship between the body and territory, as well as issues of memory and transmission. After studying art history, museology, and visual arts in Paris and Montreal (Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III, UQAM), she trained in filmmaking in 2016 at the Ateliers Varan in Guadeloupe, where she directed her first short film, Chanzy Blues (30 min). In 2019, she participated in an international masterclass at EICTV (Cuba) dedicated to aesthetic approaches to documentary filmmaking, under the direction of Brazilian filmmaker Marcos Pimentel. She is the recipient of the Déclic grant from the Fondation de France (2018) and the Brouillon d’un rêve grant from SCAM (2019). Her first feature film, L'Homme-Vertige : Tales of a City (93 min), shot in Pointe-à-Pitre between 2016 and 2023, was selected for the 74th Berlinale and nominated for the Documentary Award. The film has been screened at numerous international institutions, including the Centre Pompidou, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.

He has received several international awards, including the 2025 Étalon d'Or at Yennenga and the Paul Robeson Prize for the Diaspora at FESPACO (Ouagadougou). His work has been featured in numerous publications and broadcasts, including Variety US, The New Yorker, Les Cahiers du cinéma, Cineninja (Brazil), and La Lucarne – Arte, and is included in the British Film Institute’s selection of The Best Films of 2024.

In 2025, L'Homme-Vertige was added to the CNAP’s collection of contemporary art films. She was also selected for the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin (film) program for the year 2026. Alongside her artistic work, she has been committed since 2017 to promoting auteur cinema in Guadeloupe through Varan Caraïbe, and has developed a curatorial practice, notably with a Carte Blanche at the Bordeaux International Independent Film Festival (FIFIB, 2025), collaborates with the Festival Monde(s) en vue in Guadeloupe, as well as with cultural and artistic institutions.