(The manifestation of two new movie houses in the city is welcome news for persons who loved and have missed the adventure of going to the cinema. The opening of the ‘Kara’ and ‘Nash’ by the Panday family is the advent of a possible six-cinema complex and entertainment centre. Then, more recently, Giftland OfficeMax publicly announced the opening, later this year, of an eight-theatre Ciniplex a few miles outside the city. About two years ago, there was a tangible rebirth of a local film industry with the founding of CineGuyana which came into being via the President’s Film Endowment Project 2011. CineGuyana produced eight short films in 2011and three more in 2012.
And now, we must also add to the discourse the burgeoning local film industry, CineGuyana, which was birthed from the President’s Film Endowment Project 2011. CineGuyana produced eight films in 2011, and three more in 2012.
But even before the foregoing developments occurred, there were venues in Georgetown that kept the cinematographic art alive, an indication that the big-screen would one day return to Guyana.
Such discerning venues include The National Art Gallery, Castellani House, offering its monthly prescription of classic films from around the world; and the Indian Cultural Centre, selecting exceptionally crafted Indian films for viewing; films far removed and different from the Bollywood trend.  The Sidewalk Café also offers film shows, but intermittently.
The following is the continuation of an interview with Terence Roberts, Georgetown, Guyana, 2012. Roberts is cultural journalist, poet and painter.)

PP: However, before ‘To Sir with Love’, there was another great book, ‘Green Mansions’. The film was sort of nice, but the book was better. The film is too stereotypical of Native Indians; but that film sold Guyana to the world. Kaieteur Falls was in the film, and visitors flowed to Guyana. At that time, there were seaplanes… And planes used to go in all those faraway waterways…
 So, the book and the film, mostly the film in this instance, did some good for Guyana, tourism wise.
TR: Yes, Guyana was a very famous place, and a tourist destination for Europeans and others for two centuries: The 18th and the 19th Century. Just as with photographs and reports, and the coming of writers like Evelyn Waugh and other others, and the books they authored, like ‘When the Going was Good’…
PP: …by Evelyn Waugh… Not forgetting his other books:  ‘Ninety-two Days’ and ‘A Handful of Dust’ ,  the latter made into a film. But, continue with ‘When the Going was Good’.
TR: ‘When the Going was Good’ made Guyana and the Kaieteur Falls very popular; and the other books you just mentioned. Guyana was very popular long before Independence, and so…
PP: …so it seems that books played an important role in the film industry.
TR: What got the film industry going was books; novels.
PP: So, in the early days of the film industry, film adaptation of books was the way to go.
TR: And it made a lot of writers rich.
PP: In those days! Rich writers!
TR: Yes; the industry bought the books, the rights to the books…
PP: Name some examples.
TR: Easy. ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Truman Capote. It’s a novella; a slim book, mind you, and not a full length novel, but made into a wonderful movie, with Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.  The book is still a Classic, and is a wonderful book to read, even now, especially for persons wanting to write in a contemporary style. Oh! The amount of money he [Truman Capote] got then! Wow!
Then we have ‘The Misfits’, by Arthur Miller…
PP: A play? A screenplay?
TR: A different kind of book; purely visual; like the passage I just read… Easy to be transformed into film.
PP: That passage brings to mind of the opening lines of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’; what was happening to the books of the past; the Classics of the past. I’ve seen ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, but the effect was mostly emotional, because the context of these books; and they were based on popularity. And you had a guaranteed audience.
Throughout this discourse, I am trying to make the connection between books and films.
TR: Oh, yes! The books helped! Like the Bond books…
PP: He’s back in the news! Bond! And recently, I wrote something on Ian Fleming.
TR: Yes, James Bond is back, but I’m an Ian Fleming man; one of the great English writers of the 20th Century; on par with Graham Green and others.
PP: But he sold the film rights to his books so long ago; and there is still money in it for… his estate.
TR: Yes. Recently, they have turned to his short stories; two beautiful collections of short stories. They have made whole films from his short stories…  ‘Octopussy’… ‘For your eyes only’ is a short story. Brilliant short story; brilliant writer; one of my favourite writers.
PP: Like Hemmingway in style.
TR: Yes. But with Hemmingway, there were difficulties transforming his short stories to film.  With Fleming, it was more visual, and not as literary in terms of literature as Hemmingway.
PP: So far, we have concentrated on film adaptation of books. What about writers who were influenced by film?    

(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)

What’s Happening:
•    World Poetry Day will be celebrated by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport on Tuesday March 26, 2013, and will be staged at the Umana Yana at 17:00 hours (5pm). All are invited.
•    New books on the local market: ‘Whispers of Kaieteur’ by Habeeb Alli; ‘Mohandas K. Gandhi’ by Ramnarine Sahadeo; and ‘Multilateral diplomacy: The art of letting others have your way’, by Rudy Insanally.