Sexuality, drugs, soca dancing in She Paradise

THE LITTLE-explored world of soca dancers and its highs and lows are placed centre stage in Maya Cozier’s film She Paradise.

The rough cut of the film was shown last Thursday at the Academy for the Performing Arts, as part of the TT Film Festival (TTFF) Carifesta edition.

She Paradise tells the story of Sparkle (Odessa Nestor), a 17-year-old girl who defies her grandfather (veteran actor Michael Cherrie) and joins a group of soca back-up dancers.

In March Cozier premiered a proof-of-concept short film version and announced that it was receiving funding from the Take One Feature Film Grant, a $250,000 grant to first-time filmmakers from the Culture Ministry and the New World Film Centre.

The other two films to receive the inaugural grant this year were Queen of Soca and Grace and Saleem and both were shown for TTFF 2019.

Cozier, whose film Short Drop won Best TT Short at TTFF 2017, told the audience she was a dancer as a teenager and when she first returned to Trinidad after her film studies in New York she wanted to make a coming-of-age film. She co-wrote the film with her friend Melina Brown, a screenwriter from New York with Jamaican parentage, and interviewed dancers. The screenplay was written over the course of a year. During the question-and-answer segment Cozier was asked about the use of hand-held camera to shoot the film.

“We wanted it to feel organic, especially with the performances. It gave new life to observing the world. And also budget. It was a creative and budget decision.”

Cozier described the cast as a mixture of newcomers ­– the lead. Nestor. was a dancer, not an actor – and trained actors. Nestor described shooting the film as the most fulfilling, most exhausting thing she had ever done.

“But it was amazing.”

Denisia Latchman, who played the mercenary dancer Shan, said the film was a lot of hard work, but she was pleased to see the end result. “I hope it goes places. Maya is a very talented person. She put a lot of effort into it.”

Cherrie told the audience it was a privilege and honour working with the young artists and professionals. “Your performances were completely natural, truthful and compelling. I saw the hard work you young people put in. I am really proud of you all.”

One female attendee commented on the portrayal of queerness in the film – one of the dancers, Mica (Chelsey Rampersad) is a lesbian – and said it was shown in a natural manner, which she appreciated. Cozier said she had lesbian girlfriends and queerness was a part of life. A number of attendees praised She Paradise, with one commenting that it was great seeing everyday talents brought into reality through the film.

The film featured provocative, in-your-face dancing to soca tunes, mostly from Nailah Blackman, and adult language and content, as well as alcohol and drug use. The main character becomes a dancer to make money, but finds sisterhood, friendship and also some very adult problems in her journey.

The film included a rape scene and Cozier said it was a difficult one for the actors and crew to shoot. She added while her films usually avoided such content, her co-writer, Brown, was not one to shy away from harsh topics.

She expressed hope, outside of festivals and distribution channels, the film could be screened for teenagers at community centres to spark discussions about the issues of consent and sexual violence in the Caribbean.

Cozier said a second version of the film was being worked on and would receive some technical improvements.