Jahweve has spent his entire life on the island. He has seen the big world on tv. He wants to travel...he wants to become a musician.
On his small Carribean island there is no work, fishing doesn't make any money, farming even less. Visas are impossible to obtain and flights cost a fortune. As a Rasta, the only solution is to grow weed in the mountains, this way he can hope to buy a chance to achieve his dreams. But the army helicopters are coming to the hills more and more frequently to burn the plantations, and it is becoming very dangerous for him.
One morning as he still sleeps, he has a vision, he sees faraway lands, hears strange music and meets people he never knew even existed. This is a sign for him, he decides to harvest his plants as soon as possible and leave for Martinique on a small boat. He plans to sell his stuff in the french islands where he can then board a plane to meet his destiny.
Of course nothing comes that easy...
The story of the film:
Psycho Key is a Canadian band that went to settle in the Caribbean on the island of St. Lucia. They set up their recording studio in a small fishing village on the coast. They completed the band with local musicians and became "locals". They started fusing their different cultures (Canadian, Indian, European, Caribbean) into their music. The style became something we could call "Sitar Reggae Rock".
The musicians of Psycho Key would record their albums during the winters, and tour and travel during the summer. During the tours and their travels, they kept filming, gathering a lot of footage from India, Europe, and the different Caribbean islands. They also started to make their own music videos using the magical settings surrounding the studio in St. Lucia.
They dreamt of making a movie about different cultures, about traveling, and about the difficulties 3rd wolrd people have crossing borders.
Like their music, this would be a multicultural, multilingual movie, mixing and using different cultures.
As digital cameras got better, and computers became more powerful, Psycho Key realized that they were now in a position to make their own independent film. They realized that it would be a lot of fun to write their next album as a musical. Since they already live in a "movie set", surrounded by jungle, sea, and an authentic Caribbean village, it could be done on a micro budget. The story to tell is obvious. They will tell the story of most young men living there, unemployed young men trying to make a buck by growing some weed in the mountains. Every year the U.S. army lends its helicopters to help the local police go and burn the plantations... the idea was there. Psycho Key would attempt to do a "docu-drama-musical".
It was too hard to find actors on the island, and because of the nature of the subject, people were afraid to be in the movie. So the band ended up casting their drummer and people from the village. Since Azanaya, the drummer, would be the main actor, and Psycho Key would be going on tour in Europe the following summer, the final touch to their story came naturally. They would tell the story of a Rasta man in St. Lucia who wants to become a musician and see the world. He would have to grow his plantation, escape the helicopters, and then cross the channel on a fisherman's boat to reach the french islands. And then the audience would follow Aza on the tour...
At first, there was a written script, but since there was only a very small budget, and not every 'actor' could read or find time to learn the scenes , the band decided to improvise the dialogues using the local language (Creole/Patois) and follow the story as best they could. The songs would guide most of the story.
They started shooting in St. Lucia in December 2004, the India footage and part of the footage in Europe had already been done during previous tours and trips. They would shoot whenever possible, whenever the actors remembered to show up, whenever the rain didn't fall as the camera was set, and whenever the police weren't actually doing raids on the valleys they wanted to shoot in.
In February, there was enough footage to show the film in a live version with the band playing on stage. Psycho Key did a test show in Martinique using the footage from India only, and by summertime they were touring with most of the film changed into a video show. They had a multiscreen set up with transparent screens and were controlling the video via midi from the stage while they played. This gave them the opportunity to film the show on stage with the musicians surrounding the screens, while at the same time being a part of the film itself.
Upon their return to St. Lucia in the fall of 2005, they shot the missing
scenes at sea and added a few things here and there.
It took a little more than a year to put this crazy Idea on a film (dv).
Enjoy.
A NICOLAS JOLLIET FILM
Cast
(In order of appearance)
-------------------------
JAWEVE...................................................Azaniah
ISANG/BLOOD.....................................Joseph Sonson
MOTHER................................................ Baril Pelage
GIRLFRIEND..........................................Aurea Joseph
BROTHER................................................Klentis Seraphine
CLERK.......................................................Clint Adjodha
SOLDIER..................................................Carl Gustave
DANCERS................................................Lance Prescott/Britney
Charles/Dexter Maglore
Narrated and translated by Azaniah
Special thanks to the villagers of Anse La Raye
Written by Nicolas Jolliet and Azaniah
Script Editor............................................Kyra Jolliet
Camera
Operators
-------------------------
In St. Lucia and India.........................Nicolas Jolliet
In Geneva..................................................Pierre Linker & others
In Germany...............................................Moni Powers,
Sophie Lefrancois and Rossana Cossentino
Post-Production, Editing, Animation, Graphic Design, Technical Coordinating,
SFX, and Video Effects done at The Place On Earth Inc.
Make-up/Hair and Wardrobe........Moni Powers and The Place On Earth Inc.
Patron.............................................................Harold
Levy
SOUND
-------
Boom Operator..........................................Clint Adjodha & Aurea
Joseph
Sound Recordist and Sound Effects...............Nicolas Jolliet
Film Consultant.........................................Sandra Creighton
Geneva
Stage
------------
Sound Technicians.....................................Alexandre Lefrancois,
Gael Dupaniou, J-pierre Jaussy,
J-Marie
Nicolet
Video and Light Technicians...............Manu Barros, Nils Widemer,
Jeremy & Benjamin Flaux
With thanks to Roland, Patrick, Le Chat Noir et l’equipe de La
Scene Ella Fitzgerald
Tour Managers...............................................Wolf Grabenau
and Moni Powers
Music and foley mixed at The Place On Earth Studio by N. Jolliet
All songs composed and performed by Psycho Key
PSYCHO KEY is:
Vocals....................................................................Kyra
Levy
Guitar/Sitar/Surbahar/Esraj...................Nicolas Jolliet
Bass Guitar/Vocals........................................Clint Adjodha
Drums.....................................................................Azaniah
Guest Djembe Player.....................................Jeremy Moret
This production was filmed in St. Lucia, India, Switzerland and Germany
Special thanks to:
Digital Domain, Jean-Gilles Raynaud, Olivier and Sophie Barouh, Justine
Page,
Pierre Linker, Jean Francois and Elisabeth Jolliet, Laura Martin, Harold
and Marleen Levy,
The Adjodha Family, John Campana and Eric Parker