Caribbean Film Series celebrates milestone
By Tangerine Clarke
The Caribbean Film Series celebrated
its milestone with a 5th Anniversary
Festival that premiered the film
“Yardie” – an adaptation of the novel
with the same name, by Jamaicaborn
Victor Headley, that showcases
the directorial début of British actor,
Idris Elba.
Guyana-born Romola Lucas and
Curtis John, programmers of the Caribbean
Film Series, are proud to have
taken this journey from screening
films quarterly at BAM, over the last
five years, to a successful first festival,
that showcased nine shorts, and 14
features, at BAM’s Rose Cinemas, from
March 14-17.
Lucas told Caribbean Life in an
exclusive interview at a filmmakers
reception at the MOCADA Museum
last Thursday, that they had
expressed an interest and desire to
do extended programming at BAM,
to celebrate the anniversary of the
Caribbean Film Screenings with specially
selected new films such as “Yardie,”
“Being Blacker,” “Douvan JouKa
Leve,” “Panomara Jamming to the
Top,” and others.
This was a great opportunity to celebrate
the new releases that captures,
the history, stories, customs, beauty,
and lifestyle of Caribbean people, while
entertaining the world at large.
Pictured at BAM - Rose Cinemas, on opening night of the Caribbean Fim Series - A 5th Anniversary Festival - from
left, Film Programmers, John Curtis and Romola Lucas, Managing Director of the Caribbean Film Academy, Alysia
S. Christiani, Jasmine Kearse, and Eileen Level. Photo by Tangerine Clarke
Lucas, co-founder of the Caribbean
Film Academy (CaFA), and the
New Horizon Film festival in Miami,
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Caribbean L 44 ife, March 22–28, 2019 BQ
Florida, has been the consummate
film enthusiast, who embarked on an
ambitious odyssey because of her passion
to see “our stories get the attention
that they deserved.”
“I got tired of looking at Hollywood
films, and tired of going to the movies
and just hearing American accent, and
looking at people who don’t have anything
to with me. I feel no connection
or relation to what I see, even though
I live here.”
As such, the attorney-at-law, whose
friend, Justin had shared the same sentiments,
prior, joined her in a meet-up
group to view films, and invited others
who also wanted to indulge in viewing
flicks about them. Within one week,
the number grew to 100 people. The
first screening was held at Nicholas
Brooklyn variety store, on Fulton
Street, and lasted for four years.
As the screenings grew over the
years, so did the movement. A website
was built, then a blog that became a
comprehensive source of information
on Caribbean films and filmmakers.
An online platform was the next step
that brought in thousands of subscribers
and a viewership that grew.
In addition to the Caribbean Film
Academy, and the Caribbean Film
Screening, Studio Anansi was unveiled
before the group commenced film production,
showing films in the Caribbean
region and New York.
One of the group’s pet projects is a
script writing competition. The first
offering picked four winners whose
scripts, with funding were developed,
and made into films. Those films are
now being shown at festivals in the
region.
Lucas, co-founder, and Managing
Director of the Caribbean Film Academy,
Alysia S. Christiani, hosted the
Timehri Film Festival in Guyana, set
for its fourth offering in June 2019,
Lucas, now in St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, to plan the island’s first
film festival, spoke highly of films just
premiered at BAM.
“Douvan Jou Ka Leve,” by Haitian
filmmaker, Gessica Geneus, that deals
with mental health issues, is one of
the most heartwarming films ever
screened by the group, she said.
“Black Mother” a story by Khalik
Allaha, a mixed Iranian / Jamaican
cinematographer, whose experimental
documentary is a religious journey
through Jamaica, also touched her.
“Panorama Jamming” chronicles
what life is like in the pan yard and
players willing to sacrifice so much for
the opportunity to play in Brooklyn, a
film by Brooklyn-born documentary
filmmaker, Christine Shaw.
“Lifted” written and directed by
Miquel Galofre follows the highs and
lows experienced by refugees of Venezuela,
as they journey through Portof
Spain, to acclimatize to the carnival
and Trinidad culture, as a whole.
Retrospective, “The Terror and the
Time” by the Victor Jara Collective,
Guyanese filmmakers, inspired by
Chilean dissident Victor Jara, chronicles
the unrest in British Guyana
in the 70s, while “In the Sky’s Wild
Noise” features activist, Walter Rodney.
The documentary shows raw footage
shot in original 66MM format of
interviews with Rodney, and released
to honor him after his passing.
To learn more, go to http://caribbeanfilm.
org/the-caribbean-film-series/
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