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There’s some excitement for diaspora cinema outside of the USA, as I’ve said before on this blog, as young creatives emerge within continental Africa, South America and the Caribbean, notably, and, in some cases, working with very limited resources in countries without much of a film industry (as we have here in the USA), but that they make up for with ideas, creativity, hustle and just the sheer will to succeed by any means necessary.

Here’s one of those filmmakers whose previous work has been featured on this blog – Nicholas Attin, who hails from Trinidad & Tobago.

Attin has been hard at work on his next feature film – a science fiction thriller (a genre rarity when it comes to cinema of the Caribbean), titled "Tomb," for which he’s writer, producer, and director.

Logline: An Astronaut responding to a distress beacon in deep space slips into a wormhole and finds himself in the afterlife.

And here’s a longer synopsis: "On the 10th of September in the year 2025 several nations around the world join together for the largest expedition into the furthest regions of deep space. They share a common mission to discover a new way of life for all mankind. This mass galactic exodus is spearheaded by PROSELYTE GLOBAL, a world corporate entity responsible for the design of a special artificial intelligence on board each country’s starship. COMMANDER NELSON OBATALA and COMMANDER CHARLES MERCER are two astronauts representing Trinidad and Tobago. They individually pilot two human inclusive deep space probes. During the long voyage what was expected to be six months of hyper sleep turns out to be much longer for Obatala. His vessel is ordered to change its course and respond to a distress beacon sent out by Mercer whose ship’s course had been mysteriously altered. Now separated from his wife and baby daughter for much longer than anticipated, Obatala must risk the success of his mission and the family he loves to find and rescue his dear friend and fellow countryman. The love for his wife and child may help him cope with the loneliness of space; his training may help him survive even giant rogue asteroids; but nothing could prepare anyone for the awesome unknown of a wormhole! Only on the other side will he truly come face to face with destiny."

null"Tomb stars Kearn Samuel (who also starred in Attin’s last film, the action/thriller, "Escape From Babylon"), Gregory Pollonais, Conrad Parris, Jair Massiah, Rebecca Foster, Chris Smith and Amanda McIntyre. 

Co-Producers are Kearn Samuel and Fidel Guerra. 

The film was shot entirely in Trinidad and Tobago between November 2014 and February 2015, and Attin calls it the Caribbean’s first science fiction thriller, which he says was inspired by his favorite directors – Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick, Ridley Scott and Alejandro Jodorowsky. 

Now, as well all know, making a movie that includes scenes that require computer generated effects can be an expensive endeavour, and without adequate funds, an indie filmmaker, no matter how creative and resourceful, will be challenged as he/she attempts to create realistic and believable effects. To address that, as well as to complete the film, Attin has launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $25,000 in completion funds by the first week of June. Shot almost entirely on green screen, as there wasn’t a budget to shoot on real sets, the filmmaker plans to iron out all the kinks in post-production, creating realistic visual effects, using an upgraded editing system, which part of the funds raised will go towards. Also, music needs to be licensed for the film’s soundtrack, and some help will be needed with marketing, to make the completed work much more attractive to international film festivals.

Attin has released an early trailer for the work that has been done thus far, which is embedded below. So check it out, and head over to the project’s Indiegogo page to make a contribution here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tomb/x/52839

And here’s Attin’s pitch:

Blavity EntertainmentNicholas AttinShadow and Act