Slowly rewriting the script for local film industry
AS IT continues on an arduous journey to develop from fledgling to fullform, eyes have been trained on the local film industry. For the next few weeks, those eyes will be set alight with entertainment, and in the future, film buffs will be able to regularly enjoy the open-air cinema feel that has been missing since the closure of Harbour View Drive-In.
Starting on November 4, with a finale on December 9, TVJ kicked off a brand new, weekly segment just for local filmmakers. The new segment, called the Local Filmmakers Showcase, airs right after Prime Time News on Mondays at 8:30 p.m., allowing filmmakers a one-time airing of their films. “It’s a win-win scenario for both parties, as the filmmakers get to show their films that are often made but never have a distribution deal, and it gives them an opportunity to pitch their films to the audience for possible investment,”TVJ’s programmes manager for television services, Hertha Beckmann, told The Gleaner.
Each showcase features the filmmaker introducing his or her work, and offering a backstory to their involvement and interest in filmmaking. Considering standardly high production costs and reliance on sponsorship for airtime, the Local Filmmakers Showcase is positioned like a ‘foot in the door’.
“This is just another avenue to highlight the local content that is out there and show that we are a culture that is not short on stories to tell. It’s a small step but hopefully it will help them move to another level,” Beckmann said.
The Local Filmmakers Showcase opened with Savannah, directed by Michael Cushnie, and on November 11, continued with Parish Bull, directed by Ras Tingle. Next Monday, viewers can watch three short films – Code by Sarah Manley, One Patty by Gay Magnus and the award-winning animation Abeeku and the Maroons by Kevin Jackson; then close the month with Unbound – a film tackling sexual violence against women in Jamaica – by David Johnson and Stephanie Hazle.
On December 2, viewers can tune in to the short medical drama by Dwayne Stewart and Sheyane McKay called Blood Walk. The showcase will end on December 9 with Lignum Vitae Festival winners from Northern Caribbean University.
FILM MUSEUM
While some look to the future, others hope to explore the past – and reveal the rich, undersold history of Jamaica’s contribution to the global film industry, and of its own pioneering reputation as an isle for destination filmmaking.
Now the location for Kingston’s second cannabis dispensary, and a constantly revisited venue for events like Dubwise, or In.Digg.Nation’s recent girl-powered block party (Rock and Groove Riddim launch), 10A (West Kings House Road) has other plans in store – particularly to develop iconic filmmaker Perry Henzell’s former home into a creative hub. As such, one developmental aim for 10A is for it to house a film museum, or an exhibit that honours Jamaican filmmaking.
During a private screening for Henzell’s long-lost, 45-year-old film, No Place Like Home, the director’s son Jason referenced A Daughter of the Gods (1916), the first feature ever filmed on the island. Starring Annette Kellerman, it was the first United States production to cost US$1 million, and also has the pioneering credit of being the first film with a complete nude scene by a major film star.“This would be before there was sound in movies,” he emphasised.
Jason continued: “From when my parents were in that top building, 10A has always been a creative space. So that is what it is going to continue to be.”
As part of the property’s developing contemporary profile, 10A will soon start hosting regular open-air film screenings on Wednesday nights. “It will be alternative cinema, things that you won’t see in other spaces. It will help our filmmakers to grow, develop and have conversations about different types of film. Not only do we need to see ourselves on screen, but we need to see how other people depict their culture on screen. We don’t see enough of that,” Justine Henzell said.