AS festivities for Guyana’s 50th Independence and Jubilee celebrations are in the air, Guyanese-born, Brooklyn-based filmmaker, Mason Richards is traveling across Guyana with his production team, scouting out locations to shoot the feature film version of his award-winning short film THE SEAWALL. The Seawall was screened to a packed house at the Havana International Film Festival in Cuba last year, and has captivated audiences internationally in London, Toronto and around the world, including Festival de Cannes-Court Mertage in France, and The Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival in Port of Spain.
The film is also part of the Timheri Film Festival, scheduled to be held from May 18-20.
Director of the film festival, Romola Lucas said that expanding and developing The Seawall, and choosing to shoot it in Guyana, will work as an inspiration to up-and-coming filmmakers in Guyana, and will validate the experiences of so many Guyanese people and artists alike.
Apart from the titular seawall, Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls, Mahdia and parts of Guyana’s jungles will be some of the locations Mason will be scouting out for his film.
Said he, “I couldn’t think of a better time than now to be in beautiful Guyana; it’s such an important time in our country’s history, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it, and also to be able to make a film that celebrates our Caribbean and our South American heritage.”
Production on THE SEAWALL feature film is slated to begin later this year on location in Guyana. Mason is also in the casting process, seeking local Guyanese and international-Guyanese talent to cast in the feature film.
“It’s a modern-day immigration story, where the main character journeys “back home” to Guyana after living abroad for most of his life,” he said. “It’s sort of my story, and I think the story of many immigrants who leave their birth country in search of a better life somewhere else, but then, at some point, you return home and things become clearer, or not.
“It’s a film about identity, both cultural and personal.”