The 10th annual Bahamas International Film Festival will be held this year, from December 5-12, at the Atlantis Theatre on Paradise Island, the Galleria JFK in Nassau, and the Sheraton Nassau Bahamas Beach Resort. Known for the wide net it casts in bringing international films to Bahamian audiences, of note this year is both the opening night film, “Bahamian Son,” directed by Andrew Melby, and closing night film “The Black Moses,” directed by Travolta Cooper, will be the world premieres of Bahamian films. This year the festival will award Danny Glover, with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Now let’s take a look at the Caribbean films in the Festival this year:
Bahamian Son
Directed by Andrew Melby
Dramatic Feature
Bahamas/USA, 2013
Bahamian Son is an international, independent feature film based on true events from the life of writer Reggie Henderson. The story follows Kevin as he sets out to find his father whom he hasn’t seen in more than thirty years. During his journey Kevin examines his own life and the family he has built for himself, as well as his childhood growing up in the projects of North Minneapolis. When Kevin does track down his father, he travels to the Bahamas to meet him. What happens in the Bahamas opens Kevin’s eyes to a world and a history he never knew existed, it is also another test of Kevin’s beliefs regarding family, loyalty, and what it means to be a son, a father, and a man.
For more information, visit the film’s website and FB page. Watch the trailer here:
The Black Moses
Directed by Travolta Cooper
Documentary Feature
Bahamas, 2013
Was L.O Pindling, first black Prime Minister of The Bahamas, one of history’s greatest national Liberators, or was he one of history’s greatest national Drug Dealers? The Black Moses takes a looks at the popular folk ‘moses mythology’ as it was manifested through the life and times of Sir Lynden Pindling. It follows L.O Pindling as he sets on a course to bring about social, political, and economic revolution to the British Bahama Islands.
For more information, visit the film’s FB page. Watch the trailer here:
Garifuna in Peril
Directed by Ali Allie and Ruben Reyes
Narrative Feature
Honduras, 2013
A Garifuna language teacher, Ricardo, struggles to preserve his endangered Afro-Amerindian culture by building a language school back in his home village in Honduras, Central America. A business venture with his brother, designed to raise money for the school’s construction, becomes complicated by the expansion plans of a nearby tourist resort into indigenous territory. Historical parallels are evoked as Ricardo’s son rehearses a stage play about the Garifuna people’s last stand against British colonialism, over 200 years ago in their motherland, the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean.
For more information, check out the film’s website and FB page. Watch the trailer here:
Haiti – La Terre
Directed by Jean-Claude Riga
Documentary Feature
Haiti/Belgium, 2013
Two years after the earthquake, May France is working in the Port au Prince camps, where she records, powerless, the testimony of lone women left to their own devices: hunger, thirst, rape. May is 27 years old and she still lives at home. Her family is busy rebuilding with scare resources. May France meets Johnny, who drives her between camps and become her confident… In 2013 in Haiti, 370.000 peoples are living in camps.
Happenstance
Directed by Vijay Subramanian
Short
Bahamas, 2013
Story of two different couples in a disturbed relationship. There is an incident that happens that brings the good person in both relationships together as one.
It’s Better in the Bahamas
Directed by Andrew Turley
Short
Bahamas, 2012
The film begins with an encounter. The filmmaker has traveled to the Bahamas to meet, for the first time, old friends of his grandparents. They are a Haitian-Bahamian family who arrived in New Providence over half a century ago. The film maker’s self-narrative then withdraws from the plot and allows the members of the family to share themselves with the audience. At the center is Marjorie, the film maker’s Grandmother’s Goddaughter, whose bright, ambitious and attractive personality shines through. The film was made for the Social Sciences department at the University of Manchester, the United Kingdom. It explores anthropological themes of identity, migration, kinship and gender. However, its academic grounding does not prevent it from being a humorous and touching documentary.
Watch the film here:
Vivre
Directed by Maharaki MJ
Short
Guadeloupe/Martinique, 2013
A teacher asks his pupils what they want to do when they grow up. While his classmates answer lightly and with great fun, Tom a quiet 10-year-old boy slips away. When his turn comes to speak, Tom embarks himself upon a striking monologue. With passion, humor and bewildering maturity he describes three possible life choices that will inevitably lead him to dramatic ends. At the end of his monologue, Tom gets back to the essence of the question and answers with cleverness and panache.
For more information, visit the filmmaker’s website and the film’s FB page. Watch the trailer here:
Mystic Blue
Directed by Dania “Day” Wright
Short
Trinidad & Tobago, 2013
Mystic, a member of the Bobo Shanti faith, and Blue, a strong-willed woman who does not share her boyfriend’s beliefs, try to hold together their relationship while remaining true to themselves.
The Cool Boys
Directed by Michael Mooleedhar
Dramatic Feature
Trinidad & Tobago, 2012
The Cool Boys follows a posse of friends as they get sucked into an unfortunate sequence of events, stemming from what is essentially a love triangle involving a girl in a nightclub. The plot is one of those cautionary tales about the dangers of unfaithfulness, plus elements of the criminal underworld. The film beams with energy and interesting visuals and is also an engaging work that gives some real insight into contemporary Trinidadian Life.
For more information, visit the film’s FB page.
The Dream
Directed by Valicia Rolle, Valene Rolle, and Alexandria Smith
Short
Bahamas, 2013
Adam Samsun, an investor at Eden Investments, is possibly cheating on his wife. Delilah Samsun, Adam’s wife, is possibly abusing Adam. For one of them, it is a dream, for the other it is a nightmare.
Tickle Me Rich
Directed by Sonja Dumas
Short
Trinidad & Tobago, 2012
Four women prepare to go out on the town to celebrate the imminent marriage of one of the group. As they get ready for the evening, three of them realize that their friend Lizzie, the bride-to-be, is distraught. They guess at what might be plaguing her and when they find out the truth, they strategize and give advice to her.
Happy Festivalling!!!
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