Bay Street Film Festival Photos

Here they are, the filmmakers at the Bay Street Film Festival held in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada! A fun bunch of talented folks!

Jamesie doc on the go!

The Jamesie doc has traveled a bit this past summer. In August, it was screened at the Globians Film Festival in Potsdam, Germany. The response was very positive, in fact the local public radio station announcer voted "Jamesie" his favorite film in the festival. I was unable to attend this festival.

Last weekend I did travel to Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada for the Bay Street Film Festival....way up there in the North country. The photo is of me and Australian filmmaker, Liam Ward, in front of Kekabecka Falls outside Thunder Bay.

It was very interesting to see this film about a Caribbean tradition bearer up in Canada. During the screening itself, I stood in the back of the auditorium thinking this audience, made up of many Finland descendants, would have no way of relating to this film. I was pleasantly surprised by the very positive response. Many in the audience applauded my work, saying it was so very important to document the elders in this culture before they pass on. They enjoyed the music, Jamesie and the film itself.

Through the eyes of the audience, I came to see that this story has universal value. Just before my film was screened, there was a lovely film about some elderly folks in Northern Michigan. The folks both in the film and many in the audience are first and second generation Finns, and speak Finnish, sing Finnish songs, eat the traditional foods etc. Their story was not unlike Jamesie's, just set in a colder climate with different points of reference. The point being, I could appreciate their culture, they could appreciate the culture I presented on the Caribbean.

On other notes, Cruzan Rum is now using Jamesie's music on their website: www.cruzanrum.com. The music is from the CD I produced entitled: JAMESIE AND THE ALL STARS, LIVE AT THE CHICAGO WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL. This CD is available on our Jamesie website. Jamesie was very pleased with this turn of events!

More film festivals to come in the Caribbean this winter, so stay tuned!

Interview on You Tube

While I was at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in April, I was interviewed on camera. A selection of the interview is on You Tube. The Jamesie trailer is on the same You Tube.

Click on the link below to see the interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov1bDg2PdDo

More festivals!

Jamesie, King of Scratch is traveling this summer to Germany! The film will be part of the Globians World and Culture Documentary Film Festival held in Potsdam, Germany. The festival takes place August 11 - 19th. They have a wonderful line up of films and I am proud to have the Jamesie film a part of this festival. Check out their photos on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globians
Sorry I won't be able to make it to Germany for this festival. I will try and make the film festival in Turks and Caico's October 16 -21st. Jamesie, King of Scratch is in this festival and it is in the Caribbean, one of my favorite places in the world!

Another enthusiastic viewer....

"The King of Scratch" is a fascinating, poignant, sensitive and timely
look at an artist who, in his own inimitable style, knows how to project a
"class act" with symbols and exquisite timing! I see the Leland "auteur"
style coming through more and more -- filmic aspects you were developing in
the earlier works are much more defined here: your focus on the minute and
commonplace (like chickens alive and roasted) to draw attention to a "big
star" in his own land and beyond.

I LOVE the fact that you avoided what I consider the cardinal sin of
documentaries: the voiceover of the filmmaker. You aptly created many moods
and paid homage to the particulars of culture without having to say a word
about them. You let the musicians and others do the speaking, and thus
were able to capture both culture change and culture continuity.

The music took center-stage throughout, and although the DVD is allegedly
about Jamesie, I could really see that it's about everybody. A project
like this cannot be successful without a remarkable team effort, and some of
the shots you were able to capture made me wonder repeatedly how you were
able to gain that level of trust. The bedroom shots in particular are
striking.

Thanks for sharing this remarkable man and his music, Andrea!

Eileen Moore Quinn

Bill Arnold says.....

Last night I saw your Jamsie film and I was knocked out. I was stunned that it was so good. The editing was wonderful. Riding with the music through the scenes kept everything close. Looking with respect was a pleasure - like panning over all the white faces and pausing on the water bottles. Or letting the woman who walks away from the camera clasp her hands behind her. Or starting the historic footage with that blue abstraction. And always both guiding us through all these complicated stories while having the confidence in our ability to piece it all together. The framing was great. Always going for the essence and if you have to crop off some appendages, so be it. I'm going to New York next week. I hope I see something equal to the quality of your work.

Jamesie doc travels to Denmark

In April, the film and I went to Aarhus, Denmark to be screened in the AFIA Film and Video Festival. Aarhus is a lovely city, and Denmark a fairy-tale land....clean, beautiful, and friendly. The organizer of the festival is Russian, living in Denmark and an expert in animation. The animation in the festival was excellent and not typical of what I have seen in the past.
The festival itself was not promoted very well, and most of the festival attendee's were other filmmakers from all over the world. My screening of Jamesie, King of Scratch, was held in a magnificent theater in the newly built music hall with excellent projection quality. The response was positive, giving a good idea of what life is like in the Virgin Islands.