|
|
AfroCubaWeb
|
|
|
"Images of the Caribbean is an independent Cuban film making group, with many of the people who worked with me on "Oggun" and "My Footsteps in Baragua." We gratefully accept all suggestions and support for the development of future documentary projects." -- Gloria Rolando
"Thank you, thank you." Heard repeatedly as Gloria made presentations after
showing the film.
| "The Eyes of the Rainbow" A Film Review by Linda Lopez McAlister on "The Women's Show" WMNF-FM 88.5, Tampa, FL August 30, 1997 Not being able to be two places at the same time, last night I had to forego seeing a film at a regular theater in order not to miss the oppo- rtunity to see the three films that Afro-Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando brought to USF under WMNF sponsorship. So forgive me for speaking this morning about a film you probably won't be able to see right away (though with any luck it will be included in some upcoming film festivals). Three ee of Rolando's films were shown last night including short 1986 documme- ntary that she worked on but didn't write or direct about Haitians living in Cuba "Haiti in Memoria," which then led to her making a longer docu- mentary, "My Footsteps in Baragua," a study of one of the still existing colonies of English-speaking West Indians who immigrated to Cuba in the arly years of this century. Many of these people originally left their home islands of Barbados, Jamaica, Greneda, Monserrat and others, to work k on the Panama Canal. When that was completed, instead of returning home they moved on to Cuba in search of work, where they and their descendants remain today and where they keep alive their British and West Indian traditions and language. But the film I want to focus on this morning is Rolando's most recent completed film called "The Eyes of the Rainbow" which is a documentary about Assata Shakur, formerly Black Panther Party member JoAnne Chesimard who has been living in political exile in Cuba since her 1970s escape from prison where she had been incarcerated after being convicted on flimsy evidence of having been an accomplice to murder in connection with a hold up in which a police officer was killed, a crime she denies being part of. (I believe that the women who arranged for her escape are still in Federal prison in the Florida panhandle). I had a personal interest in seeing this film because I met Assata Shakur when I was in Cuba in 1991 and had the opportunity not only to hear her give a public lecture but also to have lunch with her one day and socialize with her at a party on another occasion. So I already knew what an impressive, intelligent, vital, and passionate human being she is. Naturally, I was curious to see how she's doing these days, at age 50, and to have the opportunity again to hear her speak from the heart about her life, her beliefs, and who she is. Rolando's film is not and does not claim to be a chronological autobi- ographical study, though you get the general idea of what Assata's been through To fill in the details you need to read her autobiography called, simply, ASSATA (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1987). Rolando uses an extended interview format, set in various locations, including the corridors of a centuries old fortress, Havana harbor, and several locations in Old Havana. She also was able to get some footage of an interview of Assata filmed by an African American filmmaker while she was still in prison New Jersey and known in the media as JoAnne Chesimard. The interplay play of this footage of the young revolutionary wearing an Afro and expound- ing on the need for revolution in this country and the footage of Assata of today, older, wiser, and yet every bit as much committed to the struggle uggle to improve the world now as she was then, is very effective. Rolando has shot this documentary on video, which has some drawbacks, to be sure, but which also puts a wide range of interesting effects at her disposal, that she uses lavishly, but not so intrusively as to be a distrac- tion. She also makes Afro-Cuban and Afro-American music and dance an integral part of the telling of her story, in a manner somewhat reminiscent of the way Pratiba Parmar uses dance sequences (in "Kusch" and "Warrior Marks" ) to convey aspects of the story that wouldn't work if portrayed in a straightforward realistic manner. A case in point is her use of dance to extend a sequence in which Assate tells about how she and a man an (unidentified in the film, but in reality a man named Kamau who was her co-defendant in one of her several trials) became sexually attracted to one another and debated whether or not to have a sexual relationship that could result in bring a child into this horrible world. (They had the opportunity because the judge had banned them from the courtroom and locked them into an adjoining room into which the proceedings of the trials were ere broadcast). Afro-Cuban dancers continue the story with a dance sequ- ence that makes it clear that the answer they came to was to become lov ers and have a child, and the sequence is finished off with a montage of photographs of their daughter from babyhood to high school graduation. (When I met Assata, her daughter, who inherited her mother's striking beauty, was working as a fashion model for the Wilhemina agency). The dance elements also serve to underline something that Assata only realized when she got to Cuba, namely, how strong an African influence there is there. This influence allowed her to come to know that part of her heritage and the dances are expressive of and dedicated to various African deities. Since Assata can't leave Cuba, the best way to come to know her as a person (short of travelling to Havana) is to see this film and read her book. While the film is not yet available for distribution, I'm going to make it my business to see to it that the USF Women's Studies Department obtains a copy as soon as we can. The film is dedicated to "Women every- where who continue the struggle" -- for equality, for justice, for the a alleviation of pain. Assata lives in the pain of separation from those she loves. She was unable, for example, to be with her mother when she d ied or attend her funeral. But sees it as her role to use every fiber of her being to continue to fight for those things she learned from her mother, her grandmother, and her foremothers, so she continues the struggle. For the WMNF Women's Show, this is Linda Lopez McAlister on Women and Film. <Linda Lopez McAlister is professor of women's studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa.> |
[AfroCubaWeb] [Site Map] [Music] [Arts] [Authors] [News] [Search this site]
The Eyes of
the Rainbow/Ojos del arco iris