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(c)Black
Filmmaker Publications 1999:
All right reserved
Sun,
sea, films, celebs and
music hits Montego Bay
The first Jamerican Film & Music Festival took place in Montego Bay 17-21 November 1999. Sheryl Lee Ralph’s labour of love, presented by her production company, Island Girl, finally came to fruition in the tranquil and picturesque setting of the Wyndham Rose Hall Resort & Country Club.
With a very black British flava the festival was a celebration of film and music from the Caribbean and around the world. Opening night at the Bob Marley Experience Theatre began with the classics, “so we know where it all started”, as Sheryl Lee commented on introducing the programme. Screened that evening were the drama-documentary short Catch A Fire by British filmmaker Menelik Shabazz about Paul Bogle and Sugar Cane Alley by award winning director Euzhan Palcy, which explores the love and sacrifices of a poor black family on a sugar plantation in Martinique in the 1930’s told through the eyes of a gifted boy. It was back to the hotel for the first night of Midnight Movie Madness watching How Stella Got Her Groove Back in a truly idyllic setting on the beach, under the stars with the sea lapping by the side and a full size movie screen, a very appropriate scene to match this movie!
The panels got under way with ‘The Art of the Pitch’ by Eugene Haynes, the festival artistic director and an intensive workshop with leading acting coach Howard Fine.
The second evening of films was led once again by a British entry, Hush Little Baby by Adeola Folarin, about an African woman who enters Britain with a dead baby filled with drugs and pursued by her husband. He hires a drug dealer to track her down under the guise that she has stolen his son. This was followed by Entry Denied by Christopher Browne, starring Jamaican actor Paul Campbell, whose latest film Third World Cop was packing in the cinemas all over Jamaica. His presence at the screening was a bonus for the crowd. The film, about a talented Jamaican whose dream of a higher education through a football scholarship in the U.S. is dashed by an over zealous immigration officer who later has the tables turned on him, went down well. U.S. short Secrets directed by and starring Sheryl Lee Ralph and Alfre Woodard was also featured in the nights film programme. Also starring Robin Givens, the film is about a group of women together the night before one of them gets married, when Sheryl Lee announces that one of their men is sleeping with hers! Since its premiere as a finalist in the HBO short film competition at the Acapulco Black Film Festival 1998, it is now under development by the Showtime network to become a feature. At a bashment party at the wild venue Margueritaville the cast of Moesha joined Sheryl Lee together with Richard Roundtree, the legendary Shaft, acclaimed author Terry McMillan (How Stella Got Her Groove Back), and the Dancehall Queen, Carlene to enjoy the flowing rum and endless cocktails!
For those who manage to rise with the burning sun the ‘Morning Coffee...’ discussion began with actress Lynn Whitfield and Alfre Woodard sharing their experiences and advice alongside Sheryl Lee. Woodard commented on the youth today as “a generation of performers who just wanna be famous” but ended with the fact that “pay day does not last forever”.
The British short Simple, written and directed by Michael Buffong, was an award-winning success. The film stars Sylvester Williams as a writer with a bad case of writer’s block and accused of cheating on his girlfriend, played by his East Enders co-star Troy Titus-Adams. Their executive producer and agent, Sandra Boyce, was delighted to receive an award as Best Producer by the festival audience at the closing night’s Awards Gala.
At the closing night Awards Gala Sheryl Lee, joined by her two young children, paid tribute to Richard Roundtree, with the first Honoree award being presented to him for his role of private eye Shaft. Winner of Best Film was Sabrina Lamb, a comedienne turned writer, whose film Unbeweaveable, about what black men think about black women and their hair, was a comedy gem.
The festival closed with the Midnight Movie Madness screening of Shaft, a fitting tribute to celebrate Richard Roundtree. Everyone savoured their last popcorn and Red Stripe and dreamed of next year. Or did they just wake up!
Comfort Alemoru
For information on the Jamerican Film & Music Festival 2000 contact A-Diva Film Inc.,
tel: 0181 765 0414 or mobile 0410 707771.
