The Skin makes regional site’s movies to watch list

A regional website, Caribbean & CO, has listed Antiguan film The Skin as one of 10 movies to watch.

The supernatural thriller by HaMa films will become a part of a Caribbean Film database which will be launched later this year during the 10th annual Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival.

The database will include feature-length independent Caribbean fiction, documentary and experimental feature films from 2000 to the present.

Coordinator of the Caribbean Database Melanie Archer, who is also the Art Director of the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival said the aim is to create an online resource that was easily accessible, well organized and reflected the visual palette of the Caribbean film movement.

“This resource will allow filmmakers in the region to more easily collaborate, it will give audiences greater ability to access film and filmmakers from the region and to provide the international industry with a one-stop shop for Caribbean film,” Archer said in an interview with Caribbean & CO.

This is not the first time that a HaMa film has been archived. The company’s first featured film, The Sweetest Mango was archived in the Cuban Film Institute Travelling showcase and was subtitled in three different languages.

It was also archived in the Toronto International Film Festival Film Library.

Executive Producer of HaMa films Mitzi Allen has welcomed this recent development.

“The acquisition of our films by libraries around the world ensures that our work will live on long after we are gone,” Allen said. “That is why we think it’s important to tell stories that are a true reflection of our Caribbean experiences.”

HaMa’s Writer and Director Howard Allen shared similar sentiments

“Films are an excellent way to share our culture and way of life with others and so it’s great to see so many educational institutions taking an interest in our work,” he said.

Over the years HaMa Films have also been acquired by tertiary institutions in the United States for educational purposes.

They include Ithaca College NY (Film Library); Syracuse University (African American Studies Department); Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennesse; and University of Minnesota (African American and African Studies Department).

The Skin is a modern story filled with Caribbean folklore that portrays the experiences of Michael and Lisa (Brent Simon and Aisha Ralph), a young married couple on the verge of losing their home.

Their luck changes when Michael, while on a photo-shoot at the historic Betty’s Hope Estate discovers an ancient vase and sells it to an antique dealer (Jeff Stewart).

The couple gets little time to celebrate their good fortune before strange things begin to happen to them.

Films from Barbados, St Maarten, Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Toronto are also included in Caribbean & CO’s movies to watch list.