Shawn Antoine

Background

About Shawn Antoine

Shawn Antoine II is a documentary and experimental filmmaker whose work centers on memory, identity, and preserving underrepresented Black histories. Raised in Harlem and currently based in Chicago, he draws from personal experience and cultural heritage to create films that amplify voices often overlooked in mainstream media. Shawn began his artistic journey at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, where his passion for storytelling first took shape. After earning a degree in film production from the University of Rhode Island, he traveled to India in 2016 to direct Days in Delhi, a documentary exploring the lives of factory workers. In 2020, at just 24 years old, he returned to Cardinal Hayes as Director of Admissions—becoming the youngest person in the country to hold that role at a high school—where he focused on expanding access and opportunity for students from underserved communities. He later earned his MFA from Northwestern University’s Documentary Media program, where he taught Introduction to Film Production for two years, guiding undergraduates in editing, lighting, and cinematography. Shawn also served as a House Manager at the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem, supporting community-based programming and film education initiatives focused on empowering emerging storytellers. Shawn has worked behind the scenes on major productions including The Blacklist (NBC), The Penguin (HBO Max), and Really Love (Netflix). His independent films have screened at over 100 film festivals and venues, including Lincoln Center, DOC NYC, FOX Soul, Google, the Gene Siskel Film Center, and the Pan African, San Diego, and St. Louis International Film Festivals. His notable works include Kingdome, chronicling Harlem’s legendary basketball tournament; For Those That Lived There, a meditation on memory and displacement; Showtime, capturing performance in everyday urban life; and The Sight Unseen, a hybrid documentary about a miraculous 1971 event in his family’s Bronx apartment. Across his creative and educational work, Shawn remains deeply committed to preserving Black stories, mentoring future filmmakers, and using cinema as a tool for reflection, cultural pride, and transformative dialogue.