Water, water , water in Guyana and Haiti


Shot from Tezen on Shirleybruno.com
"That is how de UN bring cholera to Haiti" the man in front of me said as we watched the woman dip water from the river in the forest to fill her bucket. Beautiful shots  of the forest, river and of the woman singing to the spirit-fish in the river who has promised pure clean water to her. The director Shirley Bruno took a Haitian tale and recreated it in the modern day as Tezen

Kaieteur Falls (Kàyik Tùwùk  in Patamona) is in Gavin Mendonca's How to build a tree house./ 
The music video is  one of Gavin Mendonca's powerful works which seeks to talk about  Guyana and in using Guyanese music and culture. I hope one day he will do something with tassa drums. The music video connects the Patamona to Kaieteur Falls in a way which is not seen in any other representation. In 2017, the government charged some Amerindians for illegal mining and then dropped the charges.  There are some shots of Kaieteur (at some points the river seems to run backwards) which are new. Music videos are tricky things .. and for me.. I aint know.. I was wondering about the electric guitar and if it would have ended up like Old Kaie over the falls.. I guess that my head is messed up with the music videos which do not feature instruments. But worth watching and even though I aint a rock fan, I was looking for the lyrics to sing along.

It was good to see the Government of Guyana supported the production of the video (through two agencies). Maybe the Government will become transparent as to what funds are available for cultural organisations and groups and how those funds are allocated.


"The Government does not protect the sea".. the Haitian fishermen say as they talk about the trying to find ways to remove the rags, the old clothes, which pollute the sea.  The sea is present in Ayiti Mon Amour.  . There are different stories - a fisherman caring for a sick wife, a young man who is learning Japanese and annoys his mother by only speaking in Japanese, and a complex story about a man writing a story about a woman, and the woman not wanting to be in the story.. the story line might be confusing but beautiful cinematography shot in natural light. The director Guetty Felin wanted to show Haitians as survivors and occupied with every day living. There is a woman who 'dances' to music in her head. Moments of tenderness as the fisherman washes his wife's hair, and shows the young man how to mend fishing nets.

When Romola asked.. what did yall think about the film, a woman in the audience said.
"I didn't realise Haiti was so beautiful , I want to visit"

The Timehri Film Festival continues until June 3. Admission is free.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Turpentine mango madness

Image
Some of the mango was stuck on the stubble around my mouth. I looked at the mirror, a bit of shame because I had just collected an invitation from a well dressed guy and I wonder how I must have looked to him.. look at dis big man .. he cyan eat mango good . Thing is.. wiping off mango from stubble is difficult.. and the casual swipe with a hand which might have some juice is also useless. The turpentine mango is useless when it is green - it tastes awful, like turpentine.  Mother Nature works a miracle because the ripe one though, is sweet, juicy, no strings and no turpentine taste. And the colours on the skins are bright yellow/orange/pink/purple/red shades that are probably meant to draw all species of mango lovers. The trouble with turpentine is that you cannot pick it green or 'turnin' ' to ripen like say how they do it with Spice mangoes.  You have to leave on the tree until there is some point.. when there is no taste of turpentine. So you look at the m
Read more

Re-writing Irfaan Ali's disgraceful statement after accepting his comrade's resignation

Image
  (President Irfaan Ali made a Facebook post in which he accepted the resignation of his comrade Nigel Dharmlall from the Cabinet and the Party. This is an imaginary rewriting of that statement) Fellow Guyanese, as you’re aware, I am in Trinidad and Tobago attending the 45th session of the Heads of Government meeting of CARICOM and the 50th anniversary of CARICOM.  Tonight I want to address you in relation to the allegation that was made multiple allegations of rape and sexual violence which have been made against Minister Nigel Dharamlall.  From the inception, I advised the population that I would allow the system to work.   I would never and the government would never intervene in the system. We’ve allowed an independent investigation; the minister proceeded on leave to ensure that an independent investigation was conducted. I recognise that many survivors of rape and other forms of gender-based violence do not trust the system to work because it has failed many times.  I ad
Read more

My experience with depression - Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar

Image
(The University of Guyana held Turkeyne & Tain Talks 2 on Monday 12 September, 2016 on Suicide Prevention . Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar made a presentation based on her experience. This is the text of the presentation) by Raquel Thomas-Caesar I am not an expert on the issue of Suicide and Depression but this is my personal journey dealing with such issues. I have never spoken publicly about this at such a forum and I hope that it serves to help others even if only a small way- Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar South East London,  June 9, 1995 As I sit under the tree, hidden from all eyes…I wait….to go. I wait to die. Then it hits me…OMG. I really don’t want to die. What have I done? My head is swinging, fuzzy, I can hardly walk. But I barely make it up and up the hill…I see two young black men in the distance…they come towards me, I could only imagine they thought I was on drugs..I beg for help. My Angels.  I wake up in the hospital. This was me- 21 years ago.  In a foreign land, drea
Read more