The Artisan Festival International Team

Princess Angelique Monét, Duchess of Aquitaine 

A.F.I. FOUNDER/ FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Princess Angelique Monét is an American multi-media talent and former Ms. Black South Carolina USA. Princess Angelique is the owner and President of Greta Joanne Entertainment [film, television, music and event production company] as well as the owner and President of AM Releasings [a theatrical distribution company]. Both companies are based in New York City. She graduated from St. Augustine's College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Princess Angelique is also the world's only female stage-film actress ventriloquist.

Princess Angelique began her career as a reporter/segment producer of NBC's children's show VideoMax and ABC's Beyond The Years. She was the writer, producer and host of Gracie and Angel, a children's program that aired nationally on the Dove Communications channel. Her first interview television show, NYConnection, was syndicated on Time- Warner's cable network. She interviewed entertainment pioneers such as Public Enemy, Dougie Fresh, Kurtis Blow, DJ Red Alert, Flavor Flav, Chuck D, Ludacris, Raekwon, Charles Stone III, Tyson Beckford, Sheek Louch, Damon Dash, Wayne Wonder and Baby Cham. Her acting credits include Multiple Me a one-woman Off Broadway production on Theatre Row. Princess Angelique was later cast in the supporting roll of Von in York Entertainment's East New York.

Monét's directorial film debut came with the short film BitterSweet, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner (SFC) in 2005, and New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Her feature film Deceptive premiered at the Marche du Film during Festival de Cannes (2010). Princess Angelique is the executive producer, producer, writer and star of the film, which also stars Shiek Mahmud-Bey (Buffalo Soldiers with Joaquin Phoenix, Sidney Lumet's Night Falls on Manhattan and Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood), Jas Anderson (Brooklyn's Finest) and Meah Pace (TLC's R U the girl). Deceptive had its New York City theatrical release from October 29 to November 4, 2010 through Big Cinema's Manhattan location. The film was an official selection for African American Women In Cinema Film Festival and Hamptons Black International Film Festival. Princess Angelique is also the lead actress, executive producer, writer and co-director of Engaging a feature film starring Chiko Mendez, Latin sensation Tito Puente Jr. (son of world renown Tito Puente), Ángel Salazar (Scarface), Steven Bauer (Scarface), Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Guy Richards, and Latin percussionist/ singer Willie Panama. Princess Angelique Monét is a recording artist, songwriter, composer, music producer and a member of ASCAP. Her album Not Wasting Time is available on iTunes for download.

Princess Angelique is a mixture of African-American, Native American, with European roots in France, Ireland and Spain. She was raised in Greenville, South Carolina by her mother and grandparents. Her grandfather, the Honorable Theo Walker Mitchell, is a former Senator and the first African American gubernatorial candidate to receive nomination from a major party (Democratic Party) in South Carolina (2nd in US history).

In July 2011 Princess Angelique Monét became a Video on Demand/PPV distributor for independent content with the launch of her own television channel, Nothing On Television TV, a VOD/PPV channel available on DISH Network satellite television, SlingBox and over the internet through DishOnline.com. This move into television distribution has put her into a small select group of female television channel owners in the United States. The channel has also launched Monét's reality show Angelique Monét, Renaissance Woman which follows the multitude of different businesses she has started and is currently running, in addition to her acting and performance career. Monét also is the on-air host of Nothing On Television and has interviewed celebrities such as: Matthew Broderick, David Morse, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, David Bailey and Russell Simmons, just to name a few. She has covered events such as the 2011 Congressional Black Caucus, Play Boy Mansion Cannes, private events during Festival de Cannes, the Hamptons International Film Festival, Art Basel and the New York Chinese Film Festival 2011. Monét is also a fine artist who has showcased her work in galleries and international art fairs.

HONORARY TITLES

Princess of Aquitaine with Duchess Status, non reigning titular "fon honorum, Honorary Ambassador of Royal Academy of United Nations, and Cultural Attache

Rashid Bahati 

A.F.I. Advisor of Affairs 

Rashid Bahati, has more than 15 years of experience as a producer/ director in television and film. In 1996 Rashid founded iMedia Marketing Group, a boutique media marketing and production services firm, that specializes in production packaging, multicultural marketing communications, with emphasis on the African American and African Diaspora markets globally. Mr. Bahati has produced many television productions for cable and satellite broadcast outlets in addition to producing projects with companies such as; Sony Home Video, HBO, C-SPAN and Court TV.

Currently, Rashid is a founder and general partner of Lead Dog Entertainment, a film distribution firm focused on ‘World Beat Cinema’ content and events.In Lead Dog’s first year of operation it produced a 13 week series entitled ‘Global Cinema TV’ which was broadcast over the Black Family Network to over 30 million households. Through the arrogation of African centered cultural festivals and events, which provide compelling content, he is convinced that the digital convergence will level the playing field for communities of color to gain more access.

The American Film Institute (AFI), honored him for his work entitled ‘Noahʹs Art’ a documentary/CD-ROM (1995), on the art career and life story of Noah Purifoy, founder of the Watts Towers Art Center in Los Angeles. Rashid produced ‘Reach For The Skies’ (1996), a biographical look at the career of the shortest player in the NBA, released and

distributed by Sony Home Video; and ‘The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’ the DVD accompanying the award winning HBO film by Spike Lee ‘The 4 Little Girls’ (1997). Most recently, Rashid produced and directed the newly released documentary ‘Silent Warrior: An American Hero’ (2005), the James T. Jones story, which profiles the life of a African American soldier who fought in the Normandy invasion during World War II.

His projects as new media producer include; Live Web cast and official web site design for HBO/Spike Lee’s Academy Award nominee film ‘4 Little Girls’, (1998). Also he was the producer and project manager of the HBO movie ‘Soul of the Game’ outreach program which included coordination of 600+ students and served as the project producer of a Cyber Lounge and web site (1997).

Rashid produced the first ever Archived Web cast of ‘America’s Black Forum’ the nationally syndicated television program (1999), show title ‘Tech Know’ which addressed the issues of the Digital Divide and African American community. In addition, he produced the first Live Web cast of the Pan African Film Festival Los Angeles (2000), the largest independent Black Film Festival in the North America.

Philip John Galati

A.F.I. Production and Project Manager

Philip John Galati is a New York based writer/ director who founded Bluecast Productions in 2007, while attending the New York Film Academy in Manhattan, New York. He's written and directed over 30 projects and has collaborated with others on over 100 projects. Philip John has worked with people like Angel Salazar who played the role of Chi-Chi in Scarface, Latin Music sensation Tito Puente Jr, comedian Guy Richards, Robert DeNiro look alike and stunt double Joe Manuella, world famous fine artist Kendall Shaw and the multitalented Princess Angelique Monét, Duchess of Aquitaine. 

Philip John has garnered accolades and recognition with his film work over the years. His short film The Hallway, was an editors choice during the 2008 AMCtv.com Fearfest online short horror film contest. The short film A Day for a Dark Sky screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the 2010 short film corner and also won best Sci-Fi Short at the 2010 Hamptons Black International Film Festival. The Tango Date (which Philip John is the Director of Photography and the Editor) won Best Dance Short at the New York Independent International Film and Video Festival in 2009, Best supporting actress Viviana Parra at the World Music and Film Festival 2010 and Best Dance Short at the 2010 Hamptons Black International Film Festival. All three films have been licensed by Nothing On Television TV, a Video On Demand channel which is distributed through Dish Network, Dishonline, Slingbox and will expand its viewer base to Comcast in June of 2012. Philip John Galati partnered with the owner of the channel, Greta Joanne Entertainment which is wholly owned by Princess Angelique Monét. In addition to his own projects, Philip John is the Production and Project Manager for Greta Joanne Entertainment and it's subsidiaries. Philip John Galati's first feature length film Do What You Love was released online in February 2012.

Joseph Migliore

A.F.I. International Project Coordinator

Joseph Migliore is a peace scholar, specializing in inter-cultural conflict and social media strategist. He has worked and travelled extensively to several European countries and has organized international events in Italy and in the United States.

In 2008, he was assigned to the U.S. Consulate Milan, Italy, where he lived and worked on a special project for the U.S. Department of State. While in Milan, he was tasked with brainstorming ideas and prepared a proposal on a Muslim cultural exchange program between Italy, and the Northeastern region of the United States, on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.

More recently, in 2010, he travelled to Uganda in East Africa, where he visited and met Gasper Mbowa and co-founded a non-profit Igniting Youth Africa. While visiting Uganda, Joseph toured the multiple projects sponsored by IYA, focused on eradicating poverty by empowering the youth of East Africa. He is an accomplished visionary, who is devoted to improving the quality of life for the youth in Africa.

Joseph earned his BA in International Studies and his M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University and is certified in Negotiation and Mediation.

Moreover, Joseph has a lifelong passion for fine art, fashion, music and classic and prestigious European collectible automobiles; in 1998 he assisted with the planning and facilitation of the 40th anniversary of Ferrari motorcars in Maranello and Modena Italy. During the late 1990’s, he worked as a freelance automobile consultant to Christie’s auction house in Geneva Switzerland and has attended premiere automobile concourse events in the U.S. and Europe.

Thomas Maes

A.F.I. Executive Art Director of International Affairs 

Thomas Maes (1983) – BELGIUM
Painter, Sculptor, Designer, Fine Art Curator
He has had 30 Solo and group exhibitions at Gallery’s and Top Art-fairs Worldwide.
His works are drawing the attention of international collectors; his Sculpture designs and paintings are published in the fine art book Contemporary Masters, contemporary Sculptors and art magazines.

The artist is influenced by a number of fields, including design, technology, science, architecture, and archaeology, as well as art history. With such innovation evident in his work, The visionary Artist Maes is destined to take the art world by storm.

Thomas Maes, born 1983 in Belgium, shows an extraordinary collection of paintings with ordinary objects in an unusual context. They attract the viewer’s attraction by giving new meanings to familiar things. The use of ordinary objects in unfamiliar spaces is joined to his desire to create poetic imagery as well as his consciousness to think about the Universe. Thomas Maes described the process of painting as the art of putting colors side by side in such a way that their real aspect is effaced, so that familiar objects - clouds, amphora’s, houses, trees or cubic forms - become united in a single poetically disciplined image. The poetry of these images dispense with any symbolic significance, old or new. Each of these recurring themes can be interpreted differently and has significant meanings.

His paintings titled “Dark Matter”, “A New World” or “Civilization” represent visible images which evoke a kind of mystery. Thomas Maes` constant play with reality and illusion can be attributed to his interest in history, science and culture. Since seven years, the Belgium artist is living and working at the Greece island of Crete, surrounded by the ancient Minoan civilization and archetypical, archeological find spots. In his artworks Maes is back and forth playing, zapping on and off with reality and illusion, reflecting his constant shifting back and forth perception during his mental time journey. Since many years Thomas Maes formed his own signature in a very clean, concise and exacting style. Thomas Maes is interested to inspire us, because his works represent both dreams and apparent paradoxes at the same time. The themes and motifs encourage thinking about our world, about the Mankind, Genesis, Macrocosm and the Universe.
(Written by; Art History Consulting / Management: Dr. Phil. Barbara Aust-Wegemund)