– and calls for copyright protection

‘THE Tenants…Rent’s Due’ premiered earlier this week at Caribbean Cinemas with Writer and Producer Richard Mahase calling on the authorities to implement some kind of copyright protection so that the arts can move forward.

In attendance were Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, former Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, Mr. and Mrs. Loaknauth Persaud of King’s Jewellery World, and Mr. and Mrs. Sase Persaud of Sankar’s Group of Businesses.

Wife of Producer, the late George Subraj, Mrs. Gloria Subraj, was also there for the opening.

The Prime Minister recounted Mahase’s life as a journalist, and complimented the project, while Rohee recounted that the late Mr. Subraj’s work was as a humanitarian and applauded the effort.

Subraj offered that this movie was the last major project her husband was working on before he passed. “It was always his dream to make a movie of his work. Sadly, he is not here to share it with you, but as they say, he lives on in the films. And he is in this film.”

In asking for copyright protection, Mahase expressed: “This way, the country, our singers, musicians, writers, poets can export this talent to show and share Guyana’s beauty and warmth without been exploited.”

The film, a 111-minute-long drama by the George Subraj Foundation and Red Lock Media, was officially introduced to the Guyanese populace last month, with daily showings billed for Caribbean Cinemas. The film will show four times daily for one week.

Popular Guyanese-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, George Subraj (now deceased), along with Mahase, who is a longstanding member of the local entertainment industry, began talks of producing a Guyanese film in an American setting since back in 2015.

Mahase had said that the film was made by Guyanese to the United States’ level of production.

Known for leading many medical missions here, Subraj, as a New York resident, developed a huge rental enterprise before he died. The film is, therefore, about his experience in the industry in Queens, New York, long considered an expansive ‘melting pot’ of sorts in the USA.

As such, the movie reflects the business that Subraj ran, and the struggles people from all across the world endure while seeking to rent an apartment in New York.