Growing up on a small island, film has enabled me to know that my surroundings were unique, people from around the world were similar, change is absolutely necessary and greater was possible.

This awareness has led me to making short films, features, documentaries, art films, boards and most recently curator of film programming 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.

This column on The Bahamas Weekly will talk about my journey in getting my new feature Cargo made, my art film projects and the exciting film line up we have at the Island House Cinema every week.

I was a nerdy kid growing up, school disinterested me but we had a collection of Collier Encyclopedias that I was obsessed with reading cover to cover, knowing the seven continents and memorizing where each of the continents, oceans, countries and cities were. I also would imagine what it would be like to visit these places.

Two places stand out in particular and these are the bustling, lively city of New York City and the far away continent of Antarctica. Both vastly different, one densely populated, the other being the most scarcely populated place on earth but similar in the way that they are equally fascinating with diverse populations that move in an out of these spaces.

This week is documentary block at the Island House Cinema where we are showing the films Ballet 422 and Antarctica: Year on Ice.

Ballet 422 takes us backstage at New York City Ballet as Justin Peck, a young up-and-coming choreographer, crafts a new work. BALLET 422 illuminates the process behind the creation of a single ballet within the ongoing cycle of work at one of the world’s great ballet companies.

ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE is a visually stunning journey to the end of the world with the hardy and devoted people who live there year-round. The research stations scattered throughout the continent host a close-knit international population of scientists, technicians and craftsmen. Isolated from the rest of the world, enduring months of unending darkness followed by periods when the sun never sets, Antarctic residents experience firsthand the beauty and brutality of the most severe environment on Earth.

These are films that are very different in their storytelling but capture an essence of the world they explore so beautifully that we are transported to places that have rarely been documented providing us an interesting contrast to our own lives on the island. Both films open Friday.

Ballet 422 plays daily April 17-24^th at The Island House Cinema at 6:30pm

Antarctica 422 plays daily April 17-24^TH at 8:45 pm

Reservations must be made at The Island House at 242.698.6300

Email: cinema@the-island-house.com

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.