BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - SMALL island…big dreams! The Nevis Film Commission is ready for the hosting of the very powerful documentary, ‘Born in Trench Town, Voices from the yard’.
Trench Town is known worldwide due to numerous Ska, Rock Steady and Reggae musicians including The Abyssinians, Wailing Souls, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and, most notably, the late legendary Bob Marley, who spent much of his youth in a "government yard" on First Street. His songs, ‘Trenchtown’, ‘Natty Dread’, ‘Trench Town Rock’ and ‘No Woman, No Cry’, make reference to it.
It was also home to Rastafarian Mortimo ‘Kumi’ Planno, who was a renowned drummer and Rastafari elder and considered one of the ideological founders of the Back-to-Africa Movement.
He is best known as the Rasta teacher of Bob Marley.
Now, even with its musical and other cultural successes, Trench Town is also a place where tremendous social and economic barriers have isolated most of its residents and much of surrounding West Kingston from the rest of the country.
Despite this separation, Trench Town continues to have a significant cultural and political impact on all of Jamaica.
Directed by Greg Pond, a visual and sound artist residing in Tennessee, ‘Born in Trench Town’ began unexpectedly and has evolved over the years. The creators at the time did not realise the scope and significance of the stories they would find when they started. On those early trips, they gathered many personal accounts that comprise a very compelling and troubled history of the place. It is a history fraught with violence that sprang from political rivalry more than 30 years ago, and whose legacy persists today.
This documentary is unique; it is the result of many years of work of a handful of very dedicated people.
The history of Trench Town is the history of Jamaica.
The documentary follows interviews and scenes of life from within the yards and surrounding neighborhoods. Many older inhabitants of Trench Town were born there and witnessed the entire history.
Their interviews contain glimpses of the Trench Town of the past and follow its transition into the Trench Town of today. For residents who grew up after 1976, perceptions and life are markedly different. The film traverses from First to Seventh Street through the maze of holes in the walls separating the yards that were created when it was too dangerous to walk on streets. It stops along the way to consider the conditions that created the Trench Town of today.
The interviews also spread to London following Michael Smith, who fled along with fellow community leaders during the 1990s in order to stay alive. Many of his fellow activists would become victims of gang violence.
The documentary weaved together social, architectural and political histories and allowed residents of Trench Town to tell their own stories.
On July 8-12 the Nevis Film Commission will welcome producer of ‘Born in Trench Town’ Samuel Dixon Myers and will begin their five-day event as they seek to teach, inspire, enlighten, showcase and build on their mission to elevate the arts from within.
The Nevis Cultural Center on July 10 will welcome guests for the premier of Born in Trench Town from 7:00 p.m. and will commence at 9:30 p.m.
In a brief interview with the Hon. Mark Brantley, Nevis Minister of Culture, he shared: “I wish to record my fullest support for the work of the Nevis Film Commission. I believe that it provides a unique opportunity for the people of Nevis and the wider Federation to learn the art of film making, but also the real potential to export our own films and talent in the future.
“The premiere of ‘Born in Trench Town’ is a superb initiative for the island and I encourage one and all to go out and enjoy this film. I am truly excited about the premiering of this film and the real potential for the development of the arts in Nevis. With actress of Nevisian descent, Cicely Tyson, just winning the Tony Award for Best Actress for her lead role in ‘The Trip to Bountiful’ now playing on Broadway, there is renewed interest in acting and the arts in Nevis. I endorse fully and promise the support of the government to a resurgence of the arts in Nevis and the wider Federation.”
The focus of the organisation, Nevis Film Commission, is on the future of long-term development of an audiovisual arts industry which requires a robust and committed organisation, as well as a grassroots participatory approach in order to build sustainable capacity.
Their vision is to promote opportunities for individual artistes and the island as a whole through education and training in audiovisual arts and film production.
