In the 1990s, she became a filmmaker in New York. She worked with fellow Haitian-American
Edwidge Danticat, as well as with
Jonathan Demme, on projects on
Haitian art and documentaries about Haïti. Benoit directed a short film titled ''Fern's Heart of Darkness
which appeared as one of the ten such short stories combined to produce a television film Subway Stories in 1997. Her documentary film titled Courage and Pain,
about the victims of political torture in Haiti, was shown at the Walter Reade Theatre in Newcastle York in 1996. She also directed an award-winning documentary titled Tonbe/Leve'' which depicts the struggle for democracy in Haiti after the end of Duvalier's 30-year rule. She rose to prominence as a film director where she was critically acclaimed for her directorial venture of
Stones in the Sun, a film she also wrote, based on the lives of Haitian people. It was released in 2012, accumulating positive reviews. The film
Stones in the Sun received the best narrative feature film award at the Los Angeles Pan American Film Festival and also received the
Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Diaspora Feature in 2013. At the
Tribeca Film Festival, Patricia Benoit herself also received the special award for best debut narrative director. == References ==