Young filmmakers debut

WHEN young filmmakers Rachel Lee and Christopher Lou-Hing were working on their school film project Howler Monkey Sex Noises at Lunchtime, they had no idea it would be submitted to the 2020 edition of the TT Film Festival (TTFF), much less that it would be accepted.

But the experimental film will be one of more than 120 short, medium and feature-length films screened over the next week.

Newsday spoke with Lee, who directed and produced the film, and Lou-Hing, who did sound and editing, about the project during a recent Zoom interview.

The team described the two-minute film as: "An experiment in visual and auditory cacophony which dives deep into trauma and personal healing, facing and accepting one's inner demons. Inspired by traditions of masquerade and the carnivalesque as spaces of healing."

It was made in 2019 as an assignment for a course on sound and visual dynamics at UWI, St Augustine.

"Naturally, after viewing and writing on films curated by our lecturer, Andreas Antonopoulous, we had to create one of our own that displayed our understanding of some imparted techniques," Lee said.

Of masks and monkeys

She and Lou-Hing had several ideas in mind but found they could not settle on one.

"As time went on and we casually discussed coming to terms with some traumatic experiences and (with) a shared morbid sense of humour when referring to them, (this theme) seemed to be indefinite themes we would incorporate."

She said after brainstorming the story came organically.

"A story would be shaped around the survivor of a traumatic incident. Someone who was left ugly and scarred from abuse. A seriously warped individual, the quintessential survivor. How do they deal with their own inner demons and residue of trauma, sometimes insurmountable, unbearable. (And) sometimes conflicting with their perception of reality and themselves ultimately? First step was their willingness to heal, second was acceptance and third learning to dance with them. The worst thing you can do is pretend they're not there."

Lee recalled around the time she was doing research on a variety of animal sounds, and she found angry monkey noises disturbingly amusing and sometimes comical if juxtaposed with the right image.

"I shared this with Chris, and we decided we must find a way to integrate this in our narrative somehow."

She recalled on the final day for filming they were rushed for time, as they were also assisting the cinematographer Shinelle Ambris with another project, Wake Up, which is also part of TTFF and in which Lee will be appearing.

"Realising we had taken too long to decide which idea we would go with, I looked to the large mask that hung in my room, and we (decided to) use it. We would improvise. (And) once we got to include the monkey noises we would be all right."

The mask was created for the Jouvay Ayiti workshop in 2017, which was themed The Black Jacobins.

"I created the mask with the spirit of (leader of the Haitian Revolution) Jean-Jacques Dessalines in mind. Having written a play on the Haitian revolution in high school, I was always intrigued by his fierce leadership, popularly known for renaming and declaring himself the Emperor of Haiti (and) responsible for ripping the white out (of) the French tricolour flag, Dessalines had earned a reputation for his brutality and bloodthirstiness."

Lee never had an opportunity to wear or perform with the mask. She was supposed to wear it and "jump up" in Port of Spain for Emancipation Day but she was ill at the time. And so the shoot became the opportunity for her to finally wear it.

The film was shot at Lee's home – some in her backyard and most at a nearby cemetery. The shoot itself took about two to three hours, and while filming she did the shot list. The story would be about the mask and would weave around the character.

Lou-Hing recalled there was a lot of improvisation, which was one of the more fun parts, and they ended up with a lot of footage.

On shooting the film Lee said they had a lot of fun making it.

"I got a chance to wear the mask and play around in it for the first time since it was made."

The shoot was not without its mishaps as Lee almost fell in a pond and got stung by a bee. But she soldiered on and completed the filming.

She recalled during the editing phase, which Lou-Hing was in charge of, they worked on finding the right placement for the monkey noises.

"Other sounds and visuals we played around with, wanting an ethereal/psychedelic effect to the sequence of events, that would be illusory rather than linear. "

On the title, she said they found an appropriate one from a shared memory of going "down the islands."

"After I returned to Trinidad last year I was having lunch in the cockpit of a yacht off Scotland Bay, when we were graced by the sounds of mating howler monkeys. I have a habit of forming titles for future creative projects, and writing them for future use, so Howler Monkey Sex Noises at Lunchtime found its way into our school film project."

After the shoot the two had exams the following week and were very pressured for time. During a respite between exams they sat for about four-five hours to complete the editing.

"We took a lot of breaks," Lou-Hing added.

When the editing process was completed it was a huge relief.

"Finally it is done. And it was pretty to see everything come together."

For Lee it was "cool" to see the mask onscreen for the first time.

Surprise festival entrant

And how did the film end up in the festival?

Lee recalled their lecturer, Andreas Antonopoulous, had encouraged them to submit the film to different festivals but they were too caught up with their own lives, had been selected for the festival.

"It was great news for me. I didn't believe we would make the film festival with an improvised project and a two-minute-long film. It was cool to know it was chosen," said Lee.

Lou-Hing said the news came as a surprise.

"It came out of nowhere. It was confusing in a good way. A nice surprise."

And what does the duo hope people experience when they watch the film?

"I hope they get a good laugh," Lee said.

A friend told her every time she hears the film title it makes her brain "twitch."

"I would like to see the raw reaction (of someone watching the film)."

Lou-Hing said he likes to create alternative images and use visual effects to create interesting visual experiences, and he hoped this would be the experience of the viewers. He also hoped people would appreciate the absurdist comedy aspect of it.

This was their first film in the festival, though they have been attending for years and have served and volunteered. Lou-Hing was also previously a member of the festival's Youth Jury.

Lee graduates this academic year with a major in literatures in English and she has decided to pursue filmmaking. She planned to continue making masks and using them to tell stories and making absurdist dance videos, as well as doing experimental films. She has also completed a feature-length film script which she planned to do some editing on.

For Lou-Hing he was working on his Film Studies research project, a community-based documentary which will teach people about documentary filmmaking.

Howler Monkey Sex Noises at Lunchtime is in the New Media category and will be shown together with 18 other films at Medulla Art Gallery, Fitt Street, Port of Spain from September 9-12. There's no showing on Sunday but it resumes September 14-15. The viewing times are from 10 am-6 pm and it is free to the public.

Filmmakers at a glance:

Rachel Lee, 28

Lee is a multimedia artist, writer and director, whose work is highly introspective and tries to reconcile trauma and identity. With an aptitude towards surrealism, Lee delves into research in plant medicine, music and dance as portals through which transmutation of residual negative energy can occur and take on new forms and there can be alternative ways of healing. Her written work ranges from journalism to playwriting, with a current focus on screenwriting and short fiction narratives. Lee is a literature student at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

Christopher Lou-Hing, 24

Lou-Hing is an artist and researcher. His practice is centred on issues of post-coloniality, queer identity, and its relation to the image. Lou-Hing’s current research project is based at UWI, St Augustine, and investigates lens-based artistic practices in the Caribbean diaspora.