Storm headed for London Image

by Tanaka Tiki Roberts / Aug 30, 2012 12:04 pm

Cofounder of New Caribbean Cinema, Storm Saulter discusses creating a legacy through the newly formed group starting with their first series 'Ring Di Alarm'.

Storm Saulter has become a household name in the Caribbean. The director of multi-award winning feature film 'Better Mus Come' was listed as one of Jamaica's most influential persons by the Jamaica Observer for his groundbreaking work in the island's film sector. Now with the aid of his colleague Michelle Serieux, Saulter has pioneered a movement hailed 'New Caribbean Cinema' which facilitates the production of films through guerilla filmmaking among a group of young talented and passionate artisans.

He explained that, "It was a matter of calculation by working on other films. We found that there was a good amount of very talented people, and if they all just decided to come together –if money was the issue- if we could erase the money issue and rely on the passion of the people who want to create, then you would have all these tools to make some very great films."

His 'experiment' proved fruitful. Today New Caribbean Cinema can proudly boast their first successful series Ring Di Alarm which is a compilation of seven short films. He acknowledged this saying "Now we have seven strong short stories that are all connected because its point of views of young Caribbean people – Caribbean people in general but it definitely represents the point of view of the young adult. In some way or another they often question morality ….We never really told anyone what theme we wanted either, everyone came with their own stories but in the creation of the films we find themes arising that are consistent and what's beautiful about that from a creative standpoint is that it's a true representation of the mind of many Caribbean people."

One of these said films is "Watching Him Kissing Her" directed by Saulter. The film is inspired by a poem written by Racquel Jones who also plays the leading lady. It is about a woman in the corner of a shadowy bar watching a couple across the room. As the story unfolds the audience will come to realize that the man is actually the on-looking woman's husband of only a few months. The film goes back and forth between before and after the woman's act of vengeance, all the while guided by her narration of the events. The director describes his film as fun and avant-garde in terms of the editing adding "it's cool because it's a poem and it's not dialogue, its something a bit fresh."

This is something he places much emphasis on, being fresh. Saulter believes as an artist it is important to try new things and be innovative especially in a developing sector like film. Although inspiring others and creating a legacy of his own through New Caribbean Cinema is at the forefront of his objectives he acknowledges the notable efforts of his counterparts as well. "I see other groups of film makers applying the same approach and making really good quality work. I don't feel like we're the only group of people doing really good work, I feel like there is really good work popping up from all over the region right now and I feel really good about it because you need lots of people making a noise. Any film maker needs others- you don't want to be one of the only ones, you want to have a vibrant community of people trying things, telling new stories with new styles so its actually inspiring and its going to keep everybody on their toes and everybody is going to get better so I just see this as the beginning of something major and really great and Ring Di Alarm is really the first representation," he told Jamaicansmusic.com.

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
www.twitter.com/nccnow
www.newcaribbeancinema.com
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