The movie Home Again tells a Caribbean story, through the eyes of Jamaica but also through the landscape of T&T, says its local producer Lisa Wickham.Her statement was in response to an article in the Jamaica Gleaner earlier this week which resulted in criticism because, although it is set in Jamaica, the film was shot in T&T and featured T&T actors.She said when Jamaicans saw the film they would have a better understanding of what it was about.
"It is a misunderstanding when Jamaicans feel it is just a film laden with fake Trinidad accents," Wickham said.She added that most of the main actors in the film were either Jamaican or of Jamaican descent and said Jamaicans living in T&T had also been a part of the process.The film was made by Canadian production company Hungry Eyes Film & Television and is expected to open in Jamaica within the next two months.
It tells the story of three deportees who are returned to Jamaica after spending most of their lives in foreign countries. The three lead characters are played by Tatyana Ali, Stephan James and Lyriq Bent.The movie, which was filmed on location in Trinidad over a period of two months, was originally supposed to be shot in Jamaica. That country dragged its feet on production agreements so it was decided to shoot it in Trinidad.
Wickham said the first thing done was to make sure Trinidad could pass as Jamaica and a lot of location scouting was done to achieve that.She said the second important factor was the 35 per cent rebate T&T offered as an incentive to filmmakers."A lot of countries offer between 30 and 41 per cent incentive as making a film is a significant investment in a short space of time," she said.The rebate, as well as the facilitation of importing equipment, was organised by the T&T Film Company (TTFC).
"The process through TTFC was relatively simple. There were no issues at all and they were very responsive. I think everybody was on the same page: That this film had to be successful," she added.As the local producer, Wickham was responsible for making sure all requirements were met and in some cases had to create or build customised trucks that were not available in T&T.She said the filmmakers could have decided to just use the location and bring their own crew but opted to use resources available in Trinidad.
They flew in eight cast members and 37 key crew members, using actors and other necessary requirements available locally.Wickham said she was proud of the film which has had soldout screenings in local cinemas and is now in its fifth week at MovieTowne.She said though the filming was time-consuming, it was worth it."I'm very passionate because I see what it means for the film industry," she said.