‘Black Girl in the Ring’

They may not be feature length, but making a short film is no small feat. Bringing a concept from script to screen takes tremendous focus, which can sometimes take a village to get it done right. So when it came to telling an origin story for Jamaica’s only heroine, Saeed Thomas enlisted co-director Joshua J Paul to put together a film worthy of the legend of Nanny of the Maroons.

The film, Black Girl in the Ring, is an uplifting tale of a young woman’s determination to flee from the plantation to which she is bound. To speak to how he came to tell this tale Saeed Thomas cites his time as an audio engineer touring with artiste Runkus

“He had a song called Black Girl in the Ring, which spoke about the strength of a black woman. At the same time I was also reading up a lot about Nanny and The Book of Night Women by Marlon James, and I think everything just inspired me to write this story,” Thomas said.

Nanny is a well-known figure in Jamaica’s history, however, little is known of her actual origin, something Thomas saw as an opportunity to explore.

“Some people say she came straight from Africa, but we don’t know,” said Thomas.

In their quest to bring Nanny to life, Thomas and Paul visited the Spanish Town Archives, The National Library, and explored the Internet. Getting the story straight was one thing, but there was also the crucial selection of Nanny’s portrayal.

“Overall we had probably about 10 persons who were potential candidates. It’s one thing to be an actor and striving to be on the screen and it’s another thing to embody a national hero,” said Paul.

Shows Nanny as fierce and rebellious

In choosing the right actress to portray the figure, there were several elements that the performance required. The short film shows Nanny as fierce and rebellious towards her oppressors, but also kind and caring for her friends and community. The final result saw Kodi-Blaine Brown being selected.

The film depicts Nanny as a practitioner of magic, using her abilities to heal herself, and to gain the upper hand in her escape. Thomas spoke to the decision to include these components in the short.

“We grew up hearing these things like Nanny used obeah or Nanny stopped bullets with her buttocks. It was kind of using that and combining it with our knowledge of African spirituality and African practices, and kind of making sense of what could have possibly been.”

Paul added, “You want to make it entertaining. We understand that her feats were worthwhile to go into for the film, but then the black magic component ... it looks good on screen. Then there was the question of ‘If she did have these abilities what would they look like?’ And then how do we present that in a manner that the audience will consider accurate even though it’s fictitious.”

The decision to depict Nanny as magically abled also allowed for a juxtaposition of Nanny’s spirituality and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“The film speaks to Nanny trying to escape these colonial traps. You then bring certain things into question, such as what is called black magic, and what is accepted in Christianity. These African beliefs ... are they actually bad, or is it just a different way of practising spirituality,” said Thomas.

The work has paid off significantly and the short film was the recipient of six awards at GATFFEST, including Best Film, Best Performance for Kodi-Blaine Brown, Best Director, and the Viewer’s Choice Award. However, the efforts have only just begun, with Thomas planning to turn the short film into long-form entertainment.

The journey of Bla ck Girl in the Ring has just begun, but the stories of other national heroes are waiting to be explored.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com