The 31st staging of the Francophone Film Festival premiered on Monday evening at the Lilford Avenue headquarters of the Alliance Francaise de la Jamaique with the showing of The Black Mozart.
This Guadeloupian documentary features the life and work of Chevalier de Saint Georges, and is produced and directed by the husband and wife team of Steve and Stephanie James.
 |
| Guadeloupian film producer, Stephanie James, and her Trinidadian husband, Steve at Monday’s launch of the Francophone Film Festival. (Photo: Karl McLarty). |
The formal opening of the fortnight-long film festival promoted by the Alliance Francaise de la Jamaique in partnership with the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communications (CARIMAC); Audiovisual and Communication Department of the University of the West Indies (UWI), and Women in Film, had representatives from all the participating countries sharing their perspectives on the importance of the event.
However, it was the Jamaican director of culture in the Ministry of Culture, Sydney Bartley, who was the most pointed: « …Ladies and gentlemen, I’d just like to thank the French Embassy and all the members of the Francophone community for this delectible treasure that we have and look forward to every year in this Francophone Film Festival. »
To widespread approval from the audience he continued: « We look forward to it for a variety of reasons. And among, I think, the most important reason in the promotion of what we call cultural diversity, is that it gives us an exciting alternative to the feast that we normally get from America.
« It’s really just that, and it allows us to understand the importance of film, because it allows us to see deep within our own psyche, within our own hearts, within the topography of our own minds. And in doing so we come to better understand who we are as a people, whether we are dispersed in various parts of the world, or whether we are still in distorted images of ourselves and trying to recapture what we might have lost along the way.
« Film allows us to recreate, recapture and rediscover and to even recollect the images… And so, from the Ministry of Culture, we are happy and we support this very, very important film festival. »
Bartley did more than name any particular film. With his intellectual articulation of his perspective he put in context The Black Mozart, when he said: « We’ve worked with the European Union and all the countries like Haiti, Senegal, Canada, on the conventional cultural diversity by which we try to ensure and guarantee that in every situation we will always be able to see ourselves.
« … that we need to always ensure that there is a space within whatever we do for us to see images of ourselves. That we should never allow the images of ourselves to be determined by others, nor to be overwhelmed by others, because they may have greater technology or greater economic possibilities. »
The objective of The Black Mozart, is to restore the memory of Chevalier de Saint Georges, who was the victim of racial prejudice and an historical injustice, which kept him unknown for 200 years. Due to a very rich cultural exchange, which took place between our Caribbean neighbours, Guadeloupe and Saint George’s native homeland, Cuba, a country renowned for the richness of its artistic and cultural life, a new look is being taken at this Caribbean musician and sportsman called « The Black Mozart », who was famous in his time.
Bartley pre-empted the sentiments to be expressed by Stephanie James, who said: « It’s really an incredible story, the story of this man Chevalier de Saint Georges. He was really a larger-than-life person, and also it’s such a Caribbean story. It could be the story of any island (in the Caribbean) while slavery was installed.
« The project was taken on by Cuba which is very dear to our hearts. So, I think it’s really the story of a Caribbean hero. We need our own heroes in the Caribbean. Our own history comes from a lot of ways and is portrayed in a certain way, so for us it was a very important project, » said the television programmes and documentary producer from Guadeloupe who, along with her husband, is the driving force behind this historical documentary.
« We started the project in 2005…the first showing was 2006 in Cuba (the first premier was the Spanish version in Cuba), we then had the French version in Guadeloupe and this (evening) is the premier of the English version in Jamaica. And so we’re very happy that we were able to produce this work in the three main languages of the Caribbean to make it a truly Caribbean work, » she explained to the Observer.
In his endorsement of the film festival, president of the Jamaica Film and Video Producers’ Association, Brian St Juste said: « The language of film transcends all geographical boundaries and the films that we will see over the next 10 days certainly prove that, as we will see a broad cross section of films, not only from Europe, but from the African and the Caribbean diaspora. I think this is very important to us as film-makers as we reach out to other film-makers in terms of learning from them what they do, how they do it and just sort of broadening our vision as film-makers. »
Greetings also came from the heads of the diplomatic corp of the countries participating in the film festival – the Ambassador of France, Francis Hurtut; Belgian Ambassador, Herman Portocarero; High Commissioner of Canada, Dennis Kingsley; Charge D’affaires of the Embassy of Haiti, Max Alce; Ambassador of Senegal, Nafissaton Diagne, and the Honorary Consul of Switzerland, Ueli Bangerter.
Musical offerings were provided by Peter Asbourne on violin and Ann McNamee on piano. Master of ceremonies was the president of Alliance Francaise de la Jamaique, Pierre Lemaire.
The Black Mozart will be shown again tomorrow night.
Guadeloupe Attitude 
I would like a copy of the film. Where is it available in the USA.
J’aimeJ’aime