By Laura 'Simply Leah' McNeil
The 2019 CaribbeanTales Film Festival music night has been quite a night! It’s surprising how much our history can and has been expressed through music. In hindsight, that’s how my ancestors were able to communicate with each other during the time of slavery. This short film entitled Karukera Blues by Pierre Huberson reaffirmed that notion and then some.
By Benjamin Akpan Jenna Cato Bass’ Flatland opens with hazy, claustrophobic shots of a small wedding. Shot through the eyes of Natalie (Nicole Fortuin), this light-skinned bride is a timid young woman whose love for her horse Oumie defeats all else. Before her is Bakkies (De Klerk Oelofse), her husband-to-be, to whom she doesn’t want to be married. But of course, she’s reminded by the pastor that she was led to her husband by God, and “when you lead a horse, it obeys without question.” Natalie is a victim of a system that has repressed the freedom of women for so long, that the relegation of a burgeoning young lady to a life of male servitude is deemed an ‘act of God.’ So, when her wedding night eventually ends in rape, Natalie grabs her horse, shoots the priest standing in her way, and seizes the opportunity to reach for the release that drives the film for the rest of its duration.
By Benjamin Akpan Since the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 2001, America’s history has been irreversibly split in two: pre-9/11 and post-9/11. Despite constant coverage worldwide, much of 9/11 is clouded by perplexing misinformation and distortion of truth. Yet, this event and its aftermath has been the basis for many intense, expository Hollywood narratives that trail the excruciating journey to solving the crime, and lay bare the iniquities of the U.S. government in the entire ordeal.
By Benjamin Akpan The Fever is a tense exploration of identity in the face of industrialization and a changing society. Brazilian documentarian Maya Da-Rin – in her feature debut – contrasts the simplicity and fertility of the natural world against the efficacy of the industrial world, highlighting the between stepping over into modernity and withdrawing into the jungle and its primitivism.
By Benjamin Akpan Time serves to remind us that women make the greatest sacrifices, yet are still the most disrespected. In her feature debut, documentary filmmaker María Paz González proves that these women can still have the last word in. With honesty and tenderness, Lina from Lima tells the stories of those who often face ungratefulness and isolation as they try to make their way in life. González brings to the fore the account of the laborers of the world who are most often never given the light of day in media.
By Benjamin Akpan One of the most poignant films to screen at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Rocks is a powerful coming-of-age tale exploring friendship, femininity, and youthfulness. Nevertheless, Rocks is nothing without the women who made it. When director Sarah Gavron, and writers Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson finally happened upon the concept that would eventually become Rocks, the seed had been planted for something unconventional.
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