Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine January 2019 | Page 648

Michael shared with Mélange . .
About Green Days by
the River. This is my first
feature length film and in
addition to winning the
coveted Carmichael Award
for Unique Story-telling at
the Barbados Film Festival
2018, it premiered as the
opening film of the Trinidad
and Tobago Film Festival. It
also won Best Feature Film of
the Film Festival and People’s
Choice Award. It has currently
been nominated for Black Reel
Award Outstanding Foreign-
Language/World Cinema
Motion Picture.
The film was challenging to
make. It took us one year to
finance, and we still didn’t
have all the money when we
went into production. It was
a brutally rough shoot after
which we had to raise more
money for post production.
Oddly enough, I think all of
this helped the quality of the
film and made us fight to get
it made. We had a really good
cinematographer, Andressa
Cor from Brazil and I think
together we made a beautiful
film.
About when he got
involved in this industry.
I have been involved in film for
13 years since I was 20 years
old. It has been a process of
becoming, you start knowing
so little and to create a
masterpiece in film you have
to be fluent in the language
of film. For me it is the genius
art form and I discovered my
love for it while being a cinema
usher at MovieTowne in
Trinidad. I would always watch
movies and think I could do
them better and that is where
the interest was sparked,
while serendipitously the UWI
started the film program and
I went for it and never really
looked back.
About what he enjoys
most about this career.
I enjoy not knowing where I
might be next or what I might
be doing in 3 months, maybe
I might be at a film festival
or maybe I will be in pre-
production or on set directing.
Maybe I will be in school, but I
enjoy having to be challenged
to survive and adapting
to a constantly changing
environment and being in
control of my choices. I am
bound to what I can afford.
About why was this
specific novel selected.
The producer of the film
Christian James and myself
were discussing film projects
that we were interested in
making, and Green Days by
the River came up. We both
thought that it was perfect
timing for such a film to be
made. The script was already
in existence written by Dawn
Cumberbatch and the novel
was already a Caribbean classic
with 800,000 copies sold. For
me, I felt like we were making a
film that represented national
pride and embodied the ideals
and values which represented
our history which moulded
Trinidad and Tobago.
About other films he
has directed. I feel like all eventually turned into a
business.
the films I've made before
were in preparation for this
one. Notable films were The
Cool Boys I directed, Coolie
Pink and Green which I edited
and co produced, Seventeen
Colours and a Sitar and City
on the Hill. www.addictedtoprogress.com
About his other
interests. My other
interests lie with travel and
entrepreneurship. I am part
owner of a clothing line
called Addicted to Progress.
It really represents the
motivation and passion that
some of my friends and I
have towards progress which
About what’s next ...
Always trying to make a
movie. Just trying to position
my next project to be made.
The Cast
Sudai Tafari - Shellie
Anand Lawkaran - Mr. Gidharee
Nadia Kandhai - Rosalie
Che Rodriguez - Pa Lammy
Vanessa Bartholomew - Joan
Dara Healy - Ma Lammy
Omar Jarra - Lennard
Andrew Friday - Freddie
Kernell Alexander - Joe
Renaldo Bachan - Roy
Stephanie Kalloo - Sonia
Michael Anthony - Mr. Prefat and
Author of Green Days by the River