Plenty of eyes were watching the 96th Annual Academy Awards locally last night (Sunday, March 10) to show love to “Best Supporting Actor” nominee and St. Louis native Sterling K. Brown. And while the Emmy and Golden Globe winner’s prediction came true that his acclaimed performance in the Academy Award-winning film “American Fiction” would lose to Robert Downey Jr.’s role in “Oppenheimer,” another St. Louisan had a hand in an Oscar win.
Filmmaker Sharee Silerio served as production coordinator for Kris Bowers and Ben Proudfoot’s film “The Last Repair Shop,” which took home the Academy Award in the “Best Documentary Short” category.
“Praying that our moving, inspiring, beautiful film takes home the gold,” Silerio wrote in a Facebook post several hours before the pinnacle of film award shows aired on ABC.
Her prayers were answered.
“This is so surreal,” Silerio said in a post announcing the film’s Academy Award win. “Words can’t express how full of joy, love and hope I am.”
She works as a field producer at Breakwater Studios – which was founded by “The Last Repair Shop” co-director Ben Proudfoot.
A filmmaker in her own right, Silerio’s film “Black Girl, Bleu” won an Outstanding Special Programming Award during the Micheaux Film Festival in 2021. Her work has been featured as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. The Saint Louis University and Webster University grad is also an accomplished writer and former St. Louis American contributor. A profile on then emerging St. Louis filmmaker David Kirkman and coverage for the film “Breakthrough,” the inspirational film inspired by the miraculous recovery of a Lake St. Louis teen, were among her most popular features.
Silerio moved to Los Angeles two years ago to further her pursuits as a filmmaker.
“I want to thank God, who put within me a dream and desire to be in this place at this time,” Silerio said. “Along with the courage and faith to see moving over 1,800 miles from home through.”
