RBC Focus Reflections with
Michelle Serieux
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012RBC Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion at the ttff/12, which took place from September 19 to October 2nd. In 2011, RBC Focus was introduced to the festival as part of the bank’s commitment to developing emerging artists in the region. This talent lab returns in 2012 and will engage promising Caribbean filmmakers in an intensive 4-day development programme. They will be exposed to group discussions and exercises on a range of documentary filmmaking techniques geared to enhancing their creative voice.
ARC Magazine is partnering with RBC to present a series of weekly interviews with past and current candidates from the Focus Immersion Filmmakers’ programme. It is our hope that their stories, trajectories and elucidation opens up a way for emerging filmmakers to understand the infrastructure being created to support the film industry across the Caribbean. This week we continue with St. Lucian born Michelle Serieux.
Michelle Serieux on set
Leanne Haynes: Can you tell me how you heard about the RBC Focus: Filmmakers Immersion project and why you decided to apply for it?
Michelle Serieux: I got wind of the project via the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. Actually, the two facilitators who were listed intrigued me most about the workshop, as they are authorities in their field. It is important to learn from people whose track records prove that they know what’s happening in the field. These kinds of opportunities are very few and far between in the Caribbean, so when I heard about this particular immersion programme I knew it was too great an opportunity to pass up.
LH: What did the workshops involve and was it what you had anticipated? How was the vibe? Was it constructive? Were you excited to participate?
MS: I was excited about participating because I am addicted to learning, I love workshops because they allow for hands on application of practical tools, not abstract theoretical verbiage. The workshop was very engaging and met my expectations. We also got a lot of insider information that many other filmmakers would certainly benefit from so in that sense it was a privilege to be apart of the ten beneficiaries of this knowledge.
LH: What project did you submit?
MS: My project is really about an underdog who decides to revisit a major challenge from his past that he had been unable to overcome. It’s a story about courage, growth and redemption.
LH: You were the winner of the RBC pitch – tell me about the experience. You must have been thrilled!
MS: I was super thrilled about winning. The event and facilitators were both very professional and possess a wealth of knowledge so I trust their judgment. I was nervous, as I always am when it comes to things that mean a lot to me. The stakes are always high, but my passion for the project keeps me motivated. I felt comfortable with the subject matter and I knew my story and AV pitch stood on their own merit. I chose a delivery style I was comfortable with and tried to be as honest as I could with my intentions and delivery.
Michelle Serieux on set
LH: Had you heard about RBC Focus prior to your own application?
MS: I heard about RBC Royal Bank sponsoring workshops at TIFF and TTFF in 2011, which surprised me. Not many companies are as forward thinking and bold about supporting emerging talent in the creative arts so I was and continue to be impressed by RBC’s progressive thinking. We are very lucky to have this one example of a company demonstrating such wonderful corporate responsibility by investing in Caribbean creativity in this way.
LH: What’s your background, with regards to film?
As it relates to film – I write, direct and produce. I have a BA First-class honours in Media, Drama and Cultural studies from the UWI Mona. I received my MA from Columbia University in the city of New York, and my professional producing certificate at NYU School of Continuing Studies. I also have a background in theatre as I worked with Derek Walcott for a few years prior to becoming a filmmaker. For me, the Audio Visual (AV) is the most powerful form of communication. My vocation has always been in this field, and being a producer/director/writer who also has a background in acting, allows me to merge the different skills that I have acquired over the years and put them all towards one unified purpose. I am also tri-lingual so that has really helped to bridge a lot of gaps that could have otherwise stalled our progress. In addition to, of course, being from a region as multi-lingual as the Caribbean is, all these skills are assets that will eventually help unify us as one people. That is the ultimate goal. On the surface we may look different, but we’re really all the same. I consider myself really lucky to be able to do this and to have an outlet for my own creativity in this way. I recognize the power of the audio visual as a tool not only to tell important stories, but to change the world we live in. It’s a channel for my generation to voice the things that affect us. It’s very rare to find companies that are dedicated to encouraging young people to pursue careers in the arts so again, I am really impressed that RBC sees the value in what the numerous ‘creatives,’ Trinidad and Tobago Film company and other stakeholders in the TTFF are trying to achieve. The possibilities surrounding Caribbean cinema are endless.
LH: Are there any particular filmmakers that have inspired/informed your own style?
MS: The really honest answer to that question is, I’m still trying to find out what my style is. I haven’t made enough films yet to say that I am of one thing. I do know that I love arthouse films, I adore independent cinema, I love really great documentaries that merge the art of cinematic story telling with the activism that fuels these stories, so I am really looking forward to making as many films as I can and out of that practice I expect a clear Michelle style will eventually emerge. I am certainly looking forward to that.
LH: Have the workshops helped you develop any particular skills – if so, how specifically will this inform future projects
MS: The workshop helped me to get a better understanding of the very specific information I need to communicate to fundraising agencies if I want to have a successful career in the documentary world. Each fundraising tool is its own animal and the workshop really explained the nuances that differentiate each one.
LH: How has St. Lucia informed your work, if at all?
MS: St. Lucia informs everything I do. It’s part of my DNA. My tiny island has produced two outstanding Nobel Prize winners and continues to produce amazing human beings who apply their knowledge, skills and talent across many spheres. It’s a great incentive to be able to in some way add to that legacy which in itself extends to the entire Caribbean. St Lucia will always inspire me; my family, my childhood, all of the experiences that really make me the person I am today all originated there and everything I do is really in homage to that land I will always call home.
LH: You co-founded New Caribbean Cinema. Can you tell us more about it and why you feel the region needs something like this?
MS: In addition to making documentaries, I am also the co-founder and producer for a film collective called New Caribbean Cinema (NCC). NCC is really a fresh, pioneering approach to film-making in the Caribbean as it’s the first time a group of directors have come together to collaborate in this way. A mixture of ‘First World’ technical skill and business savvy flavored with a distinctly Caribbean world-view, New Caribbean Cinema proposes to present the world with a showcase of creative artistry from the region’s up and coming filmmakers. The productions rely heavily on the creative and technical support of the core NCC team comprised of myself, Storm Saulter, Joel Burke and Nile Saulter and are sustained by the commitment and effort of our production crew, who work for us at greatly reduced costs so that we can create a body of work that represents our capabilities. Tired of waiting on funding that never comes, New Caribbean Cinema exists to challenge old models and to prove that in our region, innovation and ingenuity are key to our artistic expression. We’ve embraced the limitation inherent in being from the developing world and tried our best despite the lack of resources to start to create a type of cinema that will one day be seen as indigenous to the Caribbean.
LH: What’s next on the horizon? Please share!MS: “Ring Di Alarm,” the first series of 7 short films from 6 different directors, myself included, was recently unveiled to packed audiences at the TTFF, and is actually still making the rounds. We’ve screened in London at the BFI to sold out audiences, also in Canada, TnT and in November in New York. The portmanteau film features works that explore powerful, sometimes dark, themes in the vast storybook that makes Jamaica. We are definitely keen on doing a second installation of Ring Di Alarm that includes filmmakers from the wider Caribbean region, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Aruba, Grenada. We always wanted to be all inclusive, hence the name, and like RBC, our goal is to inspire and empower the new breed of Caribbean directors and other filmmaking talent. I am also developing 2 feature length narrative films that will go into production in 2013, one is intended as a co-production between St Lucia and Guadeloupe that will be set on both islands and the other is a feature length indie film with a Jamaican and Trinidadian lead, set in Jamaica, slated for production in the Spring of 2013.
For more information visit:
http://www.newcaribbeancinema.com/
http://vimeo.com/user3785561
https://www.facebook.com/NewCaribbeanCinemaArtist Biography:
Michelle Serieux is a St. Lucian writer, director and producer. She holds a BA in Media, Drama and Cultural studies from the UWI Mona and an MA from Columbia University in the city of New York. Serieux is also the co-founder and producer for a film collective called New Caribbean Cinema (NCC).
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Leanne Haynes has recently finished a PhD at the University of Essex, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research. Her thesis specialises in St. Lucian literature and maps out the island’s rich literary landscape. She also completed her MA (Postcolonial Studies) and BA (Literature) at the University of Essex. Haynes has presented material at conferences in the UK and Europe. She is a keen creative writer and amateur photographer, with publications in the UK and US.
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<p>Come Ova: Tarrus Riley from New Caribbean Cinema on Vimeo.</p>
EDITORS DIARY:
NEW CARIBBEAN CINEMA
Caribbean films and filmmakers will feature heavily in my diary over the next few days. My weekend and the days ahead will be consumed by the creative geniuses brave enough to pioneer the Caribbean cinema movement. Up until now, there has never been a platform dedicated to exclusively showcasing film productions by, featuring and for a Caribbean audience, but a dedicated few are determined to make that change.
I remember years ago curiously peering out the window of my bus home from school at Bollywood posters plastered across an abandoned Indian cinema. When it was finally demolished I knew that it’s sad fate was a result of the blockbusters bucketing out of Hollywood and raining on the parade of these cheerful posters that couldn’t attract audiences big enough to keep its screens open. I strongly believe in the power of the people and what the people want, they get! Growing minorities of people want more than just American blockbusters that tell the same stories in the same settings. They want to be enlightened while being entertained and they will go in search of it, even if it’s not readily available.
Cue New Caribbean Cinema (NCC), a collective of Caribbean filmmakers who combine their skills to create films with a deep cultural impact regardless of budget and means of distribution. Cofounders Storm Saulter and Michelle Serieux are the definition of ‘labour of love’, they love what they do and live what they do, which is why when Michelle travelled to London last year to meet David Somerset, the Cultural Programmer of the British Film Institute, she made sure audiences in the UK could have access to films produced in the Caribbean.
This weekend saw the UK premier of award winning Jamaican feature film ‘Better Mus Come’, directed by Storm Saulter and the world premier of ‘RING DI ALARM’, a series of seven short films by six Caribbean Directors. The response from the audience was very positive, one of intrigue, respect and admiration of the work that had been putt into making the short films. I caught up with founders of NCC Storm and Principle Producer Michelle who brought together directors Nile Saulter, Joel Burke, Kyle Chin and Michael ‘Ras Tingle’ Tingling for the weekend’s BFI takeover event titled ‘Jamaica We Love You’.
Trailer Better Mus Come
Trailer ‘RING DI ALARM’
Storm Saulter was born and bred in Jamaica and graduated from The Los Angles Film School in 2001. He took on the role of writer, editor, director and cinematographer for his first feature film ‘Better Mus Come’. Set in the ghettos of downtown Kingston, Jamaica in the 1970s, the film is a tragic love story that focuses on the agendas of opposing political parties who enforced their messages through gang warfare and violence.
Editor: What would you say to a non-Jamaican audience member who has just watched your film and was already fearful of travelling to Jamaica because of the violence they have heard or read about in the media?
Storm: Bettter Mus Come is a period piece that shows the root cause of a lot of this crime and violence and it’s something that needs to be addressed in Jamaican society. Jamaica has changed; it’s definitely safe to travel there. The film shows that a lot of the violence is self-inflicted; it’s Jamaican people against each other in their own communities with a political motive behind it. The violence seen in the film is not random violence, it’s not targeted at outsiders; it’s a social dynamic in a country that is perpetrated by the politicians. This is not a film about bigging up the badman and political thuggery is not unique to Jamaica, I’m telling a universal story because this kind of violence happens all over the world.
As a Jamaican I want to address the violence in Jamaica by showing cause and effect rather than glamorizing it. We had a good turn out for our screenings in Montego Bay and Kingston, but there are still a lot of Jamaicans who haven’t seen it yet because it has not been released on DVD. I really want to do public screenings in community centers in more rural parts of Jamaica to bring it to the people because it’s the people’s story.
Trailer ‘Missed’
Born in St Lucia and based in Jamaica, Producer, Writer and Director Michelle Serieux received her MA in film, cinema and video studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. Her short film ‘Missed’ is a study of human interaction and expectation.
Editor: How does it feel to be showcasing your work in London for the first time and what do you bring to the creative table as the only female in the New Caribbean Cinema collective?
Michelle: I’m extremely excited that we had the chance to show our films at a sold out BFI screening in London. I came to London last year to discuss the work that we are doing with New Caribbean Cinema with the BFI, so I’ve been excited about this day for a long time. I came knowing the value of what it is we had done and David Somerset validated that as well. We worked really hard to make it happen and I am so thrilled we had a packed house and we sold out ‘Ring The Alarm’ three days before the screening. It shows the demand for Caribbean cinema and the strength of our philosophy.
As the Principle Producer of New Caribbean Cinema and the only female in the collective I think I bring all of my sensibilities in terms of organisation and sensitivity, but I do a damn good job of keeping things together not just as a woman, but as a producer. My short film ‘Missed’ allowed me to grieve the death of my cousin who passed away in 2007. It was something that was really preoccupying my spirit and I really needed to deal with it. ‘Missed’ has answered a lot of questions for me and let me say what I wanted to say about taking things in life for granted. What I like about the response of the film is that women really get it so much more than men. After the screening women surrounded me and were very intrigued by the leading lady played by Sharea Samuels. That’s a really special thing for me because it’s really about her and her story.
There are so many untold stories that I would like to tell through film because our lifestyles are so complexed. I am very interested in character driven stories, the Caribbean is full of characters and we have such a diverse set of people and culture.
Editor: One more thing, why did you go for the brave shave?
Michelle: I had dreadlocks and when I cut it off people behaved like I had killed somebody. I have never had processed hair in my life, it’s just never appealed to me. My hair is a homage to African women and it’s low maintenance.
Images by Frederique Rapier