Tambay spoke very highly of the film he saw at the last caribBeing event a few weeks ago (you might recall his praise for Med Hondo's *forgotten* West Indies HERE), so it's with pleasure that I alert you to another upcoming caribBeing event, happening this Saturday, December 1, at TriBeCa Cinemas.
Two highly-anticipated films we've profiled on S&A will screen at the 3rd Annual caribBeing event – an event that's subtitled West Indian Edition:
1- Stones In The Sun (or Woch Nan Soley), the USA/Haiti production, which made its world premiere at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in the World Narrative section. Written and directed by Haitian-born New Yorker Patricia Benoit, produced by Karin Chien, Ben Howe, and Mynette Louie, its synopsis reads:
In the midst of increasing political violence in their homeland, the lives of three pairs of Haitian refugees intersect in 1980s New York City. A haunted young woman struggling to forget the atrocities she's experienced reunites with her husband in Brooklyn, where he barely scrapes by as a livery cab driver. A single mother striving for assimilation in a tony Long Island suburb takes in her sister, a teacher and political activist who is unable to reconcile their violent youth with her sister's seemingly banal lifestyle. And a newly married man, the host of a popular anti-government radio show, finds his estranged father (a recently ousted military leader) on his doorstep, desperate for shelter. Now, they all must confront the disturbing truth of their pasts, as we slowly learn the history of their interlocked lives.
The film's cast includes Edwidge Danticat (yes THAT Edwidge Danticat, the author; although she's appeared in other films, and served on film festival juries), Michele Marcelin, Carlo Mitton, James Noel, Patricia Rhinvil, and Thierry SaintineI.
The synopsis reads like it could be a Danticat novel, doesn't it? I'm thinking especially of The Dew Breaker, itself recently optioned to be adapted into a film, with Danny Glover, Sophie Okonedo and Chiwetel Ejiofor mentioned as potential cast members.
Stones In The Sun will screen first on Saturday evening, starting at 7PM. General admission is $15.00, or $10 student/senior Discount, and can be purchases online at: http://caribbeing.eventbrite.com/
2- The second film is another previously profiled S&A project, Ring di Alarm!, the feature film by the The New Caribbean Cinema Series – an initiative that proposes to present the world with a showcase of creative artistry from the region’s up and coming filmmakers. The series is a Caribbean co-production, jointly produced by Storm Saulter from Jamaica and the St Lucian born Michelle Serieux.
Ring di Alarm! comprises of a compilation of 8 short films by different directors, all about life in modern-day Jamaica, made by the New Caribbean Cinema filmmakers’ collective. The filmmakers include Desmond Young, Joel Burke, Kyle Chin, Michael "Ras Tingle" Tingling, Michelle Serieux, Nile Saulter, and Storm Saulter.
It'll screen this Saturday, starting at 9pm, right after Stones In The Sun.
And by the way, this will be the film's US PREMIERE, which is a big deal!
Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the directors – in case you needed even more of an incentive to attend.
Again, tickets can be purchased here: http://caribbeing.eventbrite.com/
And the rest of the story…
The 3rd Annual Flatbush Film Festival: West Indian Edition. caribBEING presents 11 classic & contemporary films in 7 nights with 4 US Premieres including Ring di Alarm! (Jamaica), No Soca, No Life (Trinidad & Tobago), Cabbie Chronicles (Jamaica) and an encore presentation of the popular, I’m Santana, The Movie (Trinidad & Tobago) throughout 3 cinemas from October 25th through December 6th, 2012. The selections will be shown at Maysles, TriBeCa and Brooklyn Heights Cinemas.
For more information about caribBEING and the organization's efforts, visit www.caribbeing.com.
I'm sure Tambay will be attending one or both screenings this Saturday, so we look forward to his reactions.
