Words by Jesse Serwer—
We’ve definitely seen a new, youthful energy enter the Caribbean film scene recently and, increasingly, Trinidad looks to be the epicenter of it. With the region-leading T&T Film Festival set to launch its 2012 installment next week, we’ve just caught wind of a promising Trini film (or “flim,” as they say in T&T) which won’t be at the fest, but we’ll definitely be looking out for.
God Loves the Fighter is the feature-length film debut from U.S.-based Trini director Damian Marcano, whose previous shorts include The Little Boy and the Ball. We can’t tell you much in the way of specifics about the movie, which is still in post-production, but the trailer online is arresting in a good way, and certainly has our attention. What we do know is the film, set against the criminal underworld of Port of Spain, was shot entirely on location in Trinidad using mostly non-professional, locally-based actors including Muhammad Muwakil of Freetown, the band which provides the movie’s soundtrack.
According to producer Alexa Bailey, God Loves the Fighter will make it’s theatrical debut at film festivals in 2013 but you can say you were the first to know about it by watching the trailer right here. Meanwhile, Freetown already have several videos for songs featured in the movie online: Watch their “Jerusalem” video below.