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Gabriel García Márquez
Presidente (1927-2014)

NOTICIA


  • La cineasta trinitense Maya Cozier inicia el camino de su largometraje She Paradise

    When Trinidad and Tobago filmmaker Maya Cozier completed her undergraduate degree in film at the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2016 she returned home with a desire to tell a coming-of-age story "that felt like experiences as a teenage girl in Trinidad." And that story would become the film She Paradise which began as short film and then later a feature-length film which premiered this year.

    The short version was one of five Caribbean films that featured as part of the Derby Film Festival last month. Loop Caribbean chatted with Cozier about the 

    She explained the short film was made in 2018 as a proof of concept for a feature film.

    "And now that the feature is sort of finding its place and it's out there it's really exciting to see that the short is still showing and screening on different platforms."

    She added: "I definitely put a lot of heart and soul into this short because it was the first time that I started testing out the world for She Paradise."

    She said the film was also the first time acting for star Onessa Nestor. 

    "So this project was very special for so many people and it was exciting to be a part of this Caribbean section of a larger festival (at Derby Film Festival."

    Caribbean stories

    She explained She Paradise is a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl who finds a group of soca back-up dancers.

    "She is at first an outsider but she is a quick learner. And she gets further and further into the group she wins their approval. And she takes on this new role she begins to break her bond with home and with her father and now she has to step into the world as a woman and make decisions on her own. 

    "Even though some of those decisions may lead to circumstances that don't necessarily have a happy outcome, and even though she makes mistakes, the story is really about teenage girls and the beauty of all those mistakes. And the beauty of having to learn and to grow and to step into the world."

    She explained the short gives a "taste" of the sisterhood of that world. 


    The short film premiered at BAM's Caribbean Film Series in Brooklyn in 2019. She recalled people started buying tickets for other films at BAM and then coming to the Caribbean shorts section with those tickets.

    "There was a situation where there were people sitting down on the stairs at BAM. there were people standing up in the back. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever witnessed for Caribbean cinema because you could tell that there was such a thirst for Caribbean content. And I don't think any other screening had a situation like that."

    She recalled the festival also featured films from Antiguan filmmaker Shabier Kirchner, who recently won Best Cinematographer at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards for his work on Steve McQueen's anthology Small Axe, and Trinidad-Canadian filmmaker Ian Harnarine.

    Asked what was it about Caribbean films that drew in audiences from across the world Cozier replied, "I think we're such a melting pot. There are so many diverse cultures here. And I think the Diaspora in New York is just so huge and there is this longing for home. Also, there are so many Caribbean immigrants who have not been home in so many years so there's this urge to see yourselves on camera, to see your stories told, and to kind of get that nostalgia through cinema."

    The feature

    She shot the feature film version of She Paradise four years later. She showed a rough cut at CARIFESTA in Trinidad in 2019 and the completed film premiered at the American Film Institute (AFI) Film Festival in October this year. It was originally to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    She recalled the premiere at AFI was all virtual which was very disappointing, but for the short she had the benefit of showing the film in front of a live audience. She said the reactions to both the short and the feature have been great. She received the in-person reactions with the short and for the feature a lot of people saw it virtually and reached out to say how happy they were to see a story about women that felt real, honest and relatable.

    "They fell in love with the sisterhood and what really struck the most was that everyone that I spoke to said they were rooting for the lead character and that they empathised with Sparkle and connected with her story and really wanted to follow her throughout. And that is one of the most gratifying things for me to hear, especially knowing that the lead actress, Onessa, played this character mostly as herself but also without any acting experience whatsoever.

    And as someone who is a non-actor she was able to connect to the story and really bring the life of the character to screen in a way that anyone watching this anywhere in the world who has been a teenager and had to come of age and learn certain lessons can connect to the story and the lead character as she goes out into the world."

    She thanked everyone who helped make She Paradise possible including the actors and the crew.

    "It was not an easy experience. Making the short film, even the feature film, was very much an example of guerrilla-like filmmaking. When you are on the go and you have to make the budget work, and you can't afford locations so you have to shoot on the fly and run. I think everything about that guerrilla-style of shooting the film and that community experience of coming together with friends to make something happen because we were all passionate about it is something that I really cherish."

    She said her dream is to premiere the completed feature film in Trinidad when congregating is again allowed. 

    Trust your voice

    Cozier is currently enrolled at graduate school in Columbia University but everything is currently being done online due to the pandemic.

    "But at some point hopefully when they have a vaccine and we can congregate I will go up to finish that programme."

    She is currently writing a new screenplay centered around a female character.

    "It is more experimental (than She Paradise). It plays around with magic realism in a way that my work hasn't really tried before."

    She said she is still in the process of doing journal work and fleshing out the characters. Her plan is to begin shooting the new film in the near future. 

    Asked her advice to young women considering getting into film she answered immediately, "Go for it."

    She continued: "Your story is valuable. Our stories are valuable. And the best advice I can give is just believing that. I think we tend to feel that what we have to say or things that are close to us may not be interesting to the outside world. And I think really trusting that what you have to say is important and just following that gut instinct and going out and doing it. So trust your stories and trust your voice."

    For more information on Cozier you can check out her website mayacozier.com.


    (Fuente: Looptt.com)


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