The three who changed the game

• Local film industry enjoys rebirth on the back of sterling new works

Paul-André Walker, Entertainment Editor

A van drives down a road, the wheels, not great, the Volkswagen logo very memorable to those who were fortunate enough to have access to vehicles in the 1970s. The road isn't that great either, the men inside the van are animated. The vehicle is moving quickly and, in an instant, the scene flashes to the frantic movement of the foot pedals in the van, and then back to the road. Instantly, you understand the importance of this journey. This is not just a van driving down a road.

Little cinematographic gems like that are littered throughout Better Mus' Come, Storm Saulter's full-length directorial debut.

The cinematography is just the first thing you notice, but there is much more to Better Mus' Come, and viewers come away with a new appreciation for Jamaican films. Not since Jimmy Cliff stepped off a 'Jolly' bus in The Harder They Come has a film so completely depicted the inner-city story. On this occasion, the story of the Green Bay Massacre (whether there are inconsistencies or not) is replayed vividly.

Though it was released in October of 2010, it was in 2011 that the impact of Better Mus' Come began to take hold overseas.

The film is violent, and maybe unavoidably so. It begs the question of whether it shows Jamaica in a bad light. However, Saulter, right after the movie's premiere in Jamaica last year, said, "I'm not aiming to show violence for the purpose of action entertainment, but to expose the cause and effect and how we are all affected in some way or another, no matter the class."

Shining industry

This, he achieved, and in so doing seemed to spark a chain of events that has left the Jamaican film industry shining.

Better Mus' Come is definitely being seen as a rebirth of the Jamaican film industry. People are very much encouraged," said Saulter in a Gleaner article last October.

Saulter must also be congratulated for unearthing some substantial talent. Leading with the tried and proven, like Roger Guenvere Smith and Karl Williams, Saulter also brought together actors from other areas of the entertainment landscape.

The band No-Maddz, (Ricky [Sheldon Shepherd], Shortman [Everaldo Creary] and Flames [Ricardo Orgill]) was brought on board to take on major roles, while model-turned-singer, Nicole 'Sky' Grey, became the love interest upon which the film hinges.

The youngsters were brilliant and reinforced the idea that there is far more talent in Jamaica, in all areas, than is coming to the fore.

After Saulter's efforts with Better Mus' Come, came Mark Hart and Luciano Blotta's RiseUp, and Chris Browne's Ghett'A Life. While both were good, they had to prove it while being haunted by the inevitable comparison with Better Mus' Come - the new benchmark for Jamaican films.

RiseUp followed closely on the heels of Better Mus' Come and was in Jamaican theatres almost as soon as the Green Bay Massacre depiction had left them. The timing was perfect. While a documentary about music and its relationship to poverty and escaping it has been done, RiseUp did it well, and at a time when movie-going audiences were looking to see if the success of Better Mus' Come with Jamaican audiences was a fluke or a real marker of improvement in the country's film offerings.

Again, the cinematography in the film was first-rate. The stories were good and they took you on a journey with their subjects.

Raising the bar

The bar for films coming out of Jamaica had been raised and RiseUp was clearing it like a high jumper in the pink of form.

Even before RiseUp premiered in Jamaica, it had been enjoying international acclaim, having been shown in more than 20 countries around the world as part of a myriad of film festivals. The movie, which features artistes such as Sizzla, Daddigon, Sly & Robbie, Richie Spice and Turbulence, toured the world for 18 months and won awards such as the 2009 AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Best Music Documentary Award.

The two films easily outdid 'foreign' films of the same period, which tried to depict Jamaica, Saving Grace, a prime example. While RiseUp and Better Mus' Come did not have the big budgets of Hollywood blockbusters, they certainly employed more of the classic features of big investment than did their foreign counterparts.

RiseUp, in fact, is the culmination of a seven-year labour of love. Hart, the film's executive producer, had the seeds sown when Blotta, an Argentinian filmmaker visited Jamaica and found there was a culture of music, which he fell in love with. The liaison created history.

"RiseUp is the best Jamaican film since The Harder They Come," said Chris Blackwell, a man known for spotting Jamaican talent in whatever form.

According to Hart, the premiere of the film in the island last year was timed well because Jamaican audiences had been craving for local movies.

"I think Jamaicans have been deprived of local films, so I think there is a great demand for Jamaican films that are based on Jamaican stories," he told The Gleaner just before the film's premiere.

Third gem

But the Jamaican film industry - whether known to it or not - was not done yet. There was still one gem left up its sleeve, and Chris Browne, long-time Jamaican playwright, delivered it.

Browne is known for developing exquisite plays but his sojourn into feature-length films has certainly left a mark.

Ghett'A Life depicts the divisiveness of Jamaican politics much in the same way others before it have. This time around, however, the film paints a picture of hope for the island nation, a refreshing twist for many moviegoers.

Again, with Ghett'A Life, timing was important. The Contender series on television had piqued Jamaican interest in boxing again and, coincidence would have it, the sport was at the centre of the film.

Of the three, Ghett'A Life probably drew the biggest of the Jamaican audiences. The swell of local support, however, must not be divorced from the momentum built from the first two efforts. Browne has much to thank Saulter, Hart and Blotta for, as others will have him to point to as part reason for the burgeoning success of Jamaican films.

Hart, the businessman with a penchant for culture, through Blotta, saw his dream of producing an authentic Jamaican documentary come to reality, while Saulter brings with him the new wave of not just Jamaican, but Caribbean filmmakers. Browne has followed suit and, with the only completely locally funded effort of the three, has continued the trend of creating Jamaican films, made by Jamaicans, for Jamaicans but that, interestingly, opens the world to the tiny island.