A woman of Greek, Scottish and Bahamian descent, Maria Govan’s creative voice is deeply rooted in a dialogue with her home, the Bahamas. Self taught, her film education began with making small guerilla-style local documentaries about her native Bahamas. Rain, Maria’s debut narrative feature film, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008. It was awarded special mention in the New Visions competition at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Best New Director at the Pan African Film Festival, the Graine de cinéphages award in Creteil, France, and Best Film for Youth in Seoul, Korea. Rain most recently premiered on Showtime Networks. Maria is currently in the development of her next film projects, Epiphany and My Life in a Dojo. Epiphany was selected for the regional script development lab at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2011, and won the best pitch competition and a cash prize for its development.

Epiphany — When Mary falls in love with Gabriel, a colorful Cuban stripper, she feels compelled to choose between loyalty to her home in the Bahamas with her beloved grandmother, or the promise of a new life Stateside with a woman she barely knows.