Kyle Chin began his career working behind the scenes of feature films "Better Mus' Come" and "Candy Shop" where he first worked with directors Storm Saulter and Joel Burke, respectively, two current members of the group New Caribbean Cinema. Thereafter he traveled abroad to further his formal training at Los Angeles Film School, graduating with first class honors at the end of his programme. He delved deeper into the world of film making, gaining hands on experience at the renowned mecca in the world of film, Hollywood. While there Chin worked on national advertisements, short films as well as feature films including "Rushlights", starring Aiden Quinn and Beau Bridges.
Upon returning home he's directed "Kingston House"- the Jamaican produced television programme and worked on several commercials and music video projects. It was not until he joined forces with New Caribbean Cinema however that he directed his very own short film, "Sunday".
Sunday is one of seven films that will be featured in the Ring Di Alarm series. Chin sums up his film saying, "It's a story of redemption and forgiveness." With his main inspiration coming from 'Country of the One Eye God', Chin chose a familiar yet compelling story that his audience could identify with, one which could be shot in one location in a single day. The final product tells the tale of a troubled man who seeks refuge in a church and even though he had stolen from the church in the past, the reverend still takes him in and forgives him for what he has done.
Directing a film in one day may seem like quite the task for one director but as a member of New Caribbean Cinema, Chin had a support unit. "Film is all about team work- all about dynamics. New Caribbean Cinema is a group of young minds who are very interested in narrative structure of story telling, and showing stories and making it happen- and that's very important, that type of enthusiasm and that kind of drive that's there right now is exactly what anyone would need to be on their side and I absolutely feel that when your in a group of like minds you can achieve great things," he expressed. He further added that the dynamics of the group makes each person's work much easier since everyone's strong points are used collectively to improve the quality of work.
He describes Sunday as a Jamaican story and added, "I will always tell Jamaican stories. I am very into the culture and how we relate to each other and I think that it's something different from anywhere else in the world and we can always find ways to show that in our film making."
Having gained some of his experience in a developed filmed industry like Hollywood however, Jamaicansmusic.com questioned the young film makers, as to what he believes Jamaica needs to do to gain momentum in the local film arena. Chin responded stating, "Jamaica right now needs to have at least one top international film festival, that is like a bench mark….because for a couple reasons, one; it creates an eye on Jamaica, viewership for Jamaica- for Jamaicans who want to show their stuff and for other international people to come and show their stuff. This will create an audience who can now invest because we need outside people to see our stuff." He believes that taking a similar approach as Nigeria and Bollywood who have garnered much local viewership, something that Jamaica is lacking, is key to getting a proper start up for a local film industry.
Ring Di Alarm premieres on Sunday, September 2nd at the British Film Institute SouthBank theatre in London.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/NewCaribbeanCinema
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