CTFF: Shine Ya Light

9/17/2018

By Shamonique Murray

As if beckoning to Helios himself, CaribbeanTales Film Festival (CTFF) premiered a collection of short films called Shine Ya Light, on a stunning summer evening at the historical Revue Cinema.

Presented by OCAD University and the Unity Charity, Shine Ya Light is a series of short films exploring stories of black resilience. It was only fitting that, Maya Bastian, filmmaker and CTFF Marketing and Partnership Manager, open the night by acknowledging the many lives and plights of the First Nations tribes, whose own resilience courses through the land supporting the Toronto heritage site.

Shine Ya Light features five shorts that explore the dynamic diasporic experience through the analysis of age, race, relationships, music, social conditions, and movement. Guests were received by the sweet sounds of the steelpan played by Jayden McKenzie, a senior member of the JK Pan Vibrations steelpan band. The band was also the stars of Gayle Wilmot’s Heart of Steel documentary.

During a time when youth involvement in steelpan is declining in Toronto, Wilmot’s documentary delved into the world of pan from not only the adolescent perspective, but also from an intergenerational view, as a steelpan player herself. What radiates through Heart of Steel is the joy and camaraderie emanating from bandmates as they prepare and perform.

Steelpan’s inception came from absolving what some perceive as violent acts. Using the stories of band members, Wilmot stresses the importance of steelpan for youth development, and how the 19th century Trinidadian inception may be the overlooked instrument to ignite cultural pride and a musical resistance to the increase of gun violence in our communities.

Trinidad birthed not only the brilliant steel pan but also the feature of director John Fung’s, Nang by Nang. Fung chose to capture the stories of his first cousin Anang, affectionately called Nang by family and friends. Ninety-year-old Nang’s comedic storytelling is a prevalent and important part of Caribbean culture, that consistently transforms adversity into healing doses of laughter.

As Fung travels through his birthplace with Nang, viewers are transported to the landscapes of present-day Trinidad, highlighting the often-overlooked emotions trapped within our elders. Revisiting familial landmarks, and gathering details from Moruga locals, the reiteration of the importance of intergenerational conversation becomes clear. Nang by Nang holds many diamonds forged by trauma, displacement, and love.

It was refreshing to have an animated film included in the collection, and Ariane’s Sky, created by seven ISART Digital students, continued the intergenerational theme throughout Shine Ya Light. Ariane is a petite elderly woman who has a solution for earth’s imminent danger. But her advise falls on deaf ears and she must take matters into her own hands. Ariane’s Sky was one of the two films that had very little dialogue, yet the imagery spoke volumes. These ISART Digital Montréal students took advantage of 3D animation, and effectively created Ariane’s environment both on and on off earth, in addition to the detailed character expression and movement.

The second film that used stark imagery rather than dialogue, is C’est Moi, a story about Marie-Josèphe dite Angelique. New France in the 18th century was a world of development, and it is not always public record that this development was built on the backs of many cultural groups, one being black slaves. Using black and white imagery, writer and director Howard J. Davis, emphasizes the intense race relations in New France, and the lost ashes now ingrained in city streets.

Angelique, beautifully played by Montréal actress Jenny Brizard, was a resilient black woman who by way of slavery made it to present day Montréal, and was sentenced to be tortured and hanged for a crime no one knows who committed. Records of her trial form the few words Davis includes in his script, which are accented by a melancholic piano composition also written by Davis. He expresses the Shine Ya Light intergenerational theme by shooting C’est Moi, a story set in 18th century New France, in present day Montréal.

Race relations may be a bit different now in Canada, but the more things change the more they stay the same. 3 Days in July explores the conflicting perspectives that arise during an interracial relationship as the cases of police brutality increase. Writer and director, Kit Weyman, honestly portrays the limiting views that can cause confusion amongst couples and the backdrop of society that often-times adds fuel to the fire. The starring couple is played by Chris Lighty’s daughter, actress Tiffany Lighty, and former Entourage cast member, Jonathan Keltz.

The tension of interracial dating sprouts its head in Accidentals, written and starring Aisha Evelyna and directed by Natalie Novak Remplakowski. Accidentals is a coming of age film that was inspired by the tv series Scandal, says Evelyna. The film follows a daughter as her father helps her move away from home. During their uncomfortable road trip, themes of family structure, race, responsibilities, and choices arise. Using tight frames that are mostly confined to the inside of a pick-up truck, Remplakowski effectively captures the natural nuances of the characters’ relationship and tells just one of many untold stories of the bond between black fathers and their daughters.

The bond between a black mother and her daughter was the inspiration behind Sabrina Naz Comanescu’s sixth and most recent short, Bonum. Bonum was the only film of the Shine Ya Light collection to express a story through dance. Comanescu, an experienced dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, captured the balancing act that arises through the roles we are all assigned. Miming isolations, and contemporary movements as colourful as the starring dancers’ makeup, tell a story of extremes and the natural response that life conjures when one makes a choice.

Although each of the films were seemingly different in topic matter, they all relinquished secrets of the black resilience. The beautiful cascade of colour that emits through intergenerational conversation and collaboration, leaves Shine Ya Light viewers with an informative and resonating experience.

CTFF: Shine Ya Light

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