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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com Films, Finance and Fine Arts - Kareem Mortimer
We are nearing the end of this season’s Caribbean Storyteller Series at The Island House Cinema. This week at the cinema we are showing Rosemary Hanna’s timely and important documentary Nassau Over The Hill. This documentary is the story of the fashioning of a people whose ancestors were transplanted to a foreign land under the most dehumanizing conditions and have in a relatively short period changed the history of a former plantation society. We had the opportunity to ask Rosemary a few questions about her process. Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became a filmmaker? How What is the name of your film? Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became a filmmaker? How are you connected to this story and how long did it take you to make? What were some of the challenges? Have you shown this film to the over the hill community and what has been the response? Where else have you shown the film? Why do you feel films like these are necessary? What impression would you like to leave the audience with. What are you working on next? What is the name of your film? The name of the film is “Nassau’s Over-The-Hill” Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became a filmmaker? I’m a retired banker having worked in the field for 40 years. I also studied music at The College of The Bahamas and Acadia University, Wolfville Nova Scotia, Canada. I formerly served as Director of the Senior Choir at St. Agnes Anglican Church for 20 years and Director of the Anglican Chorale for 10 years. How are you connected to this story and how long did it take you to make? I’m connected to the story because I am a product of Over-The-Hill. I was born at our home at the corner of Anderson Street and Goal and spent the first 32 years of my life there. Our family home still stands as one of the few original ones in the area that have not fallen into disrepair. I always loved photography and, after retirement in 2006, became involved in the Social Outreach at my church. During my weekly travels through the old neighbourhood noted rot decay and began to take pictures of the old homes that were still standing. My book “Pictorial History and Memories of Nassau’s Over-The-Hill” came about as a result of my picture taking exercise, and that process took about two years with the book being launched at Doongalik Studios in February 2013. During the process of conducting interviews for the book my young friend from St. Agnes, Robert Johnson, who did the taping suggested that I do a documentary and that was the genesis of the documentary film “Nassau’s Over-The-Hill”. I subsequently met Kevin Turnquest when working with him in editing a St. Agnes Church project and mentioned to him my desire to do a documentary based on my book. He in turn introduced me to Patrice Francis who wrote and narrated the script. The process of creating the film took about a year, and it premiered at Government House in February 2014. The film has also been shown at a number of Government schools, at Galleria Cinemas and on Cable 12. Future plans are to show it at the NAGB and in the Over-The-Hill Park at East Street and Mason’s Addition. What were some of the challenges? The main
challenge in producing the film was financial as this was an out of pocket
exercise. Quite frankly, had I known beforehand what the final cost would be, I
probably would not have gone into the venture.
What impression
would you like to leave the audience with?
Nassau Over The Hill screens at The Island House Cinema Saturday August 8th at 5pm. Spy screens daily from August 7th-13th at 7:30 pm.
Reservations
must be made at The Island House at 242.698.6300 About the author: Kareem Mortimer is an award winning filmmaker and artist who has completed several films including Children of God, Wind Jammers, Passage, Float and The Eleutheran Adventure. He is the President of the production company Best Ever Film and is the curator of the film program at The Island House Cinema, a boutique 48 seat theater in Western New Providence dedicated to showcasing the best in independent, foreign, art, Caribbean and Bahamian film. He is also in development of the feature film Cargo.
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