Carnival is not exclusively bound to the roads where we march or the fetes where we wine. Filmmakers in the Caribbean, or with Caribbean heritage, have used their talents to capture the revelry on-screen and offer a sample of what it means to be a part of the celebrations to their audiences. Exploring carnival’s impact and influence, they have added onto the collection of narrative and documentary stories through films that further texturize how we understand and engage with carnival.
Check out five films produced in the last three years—two of which are forthcoming—that celebrate the culture.
Note: storylines for each film have been provided via the film’s IMDb description.
She Paradise (2020)
Director: Maya Cozier
Screenwriter: Melina Brown
Storyline: A young woman is desperate to be a soca dancer to escape a dead end life. She botches her first audition with the dance troupe but uses her wit to convince them to take her under their wing. The girls bring Sparkle into a life of partying, dancing, and young love, but is it what Sparkle wants – or needs?
— via IMDb
Here is the Imagination of the Black Radical (2020)
Director: Rhea Storr
Storyline: Afrofuturism and carnival as resistance at the Junkanoo festival in the Bahamas.
— via IMDb
Becoming a Queen (2021)
Director: Chris Strikes
Screenwriters: Sonia Godding & Chris Strikes
Storyline: The rise and legacy of Toronto’s nine-time Queen of Carnival, Joella Crichton who is aiming to win a historic tenth crown in her last ever performance.
— via IMDb
Who in Da Mornin (Forthcoming)
Director-Screenwriters: Philip Williamson Jr. and Jonathan Isaac Jackson
Storyline: Junkanno Goddess Angelique McKay and The Genesis Warhawks navigate Junkanoo for the first time in 2 years as the culture and history of The Bahamas, as well as its connections to the African Diaspora are explored, featuring Angelique McKay, Christopher Davis, and Arlene Nash Ferguson.
— via Phillip Williamson Jr.
Claudia (Forthcoming)
Director: Frances-Anne Solomon
Storyline, as told to Playback Online: Set in London in 1958 during the Notting Hill riots, Claudia follows the British-Trinidadian who came up with a plan to unite Britain’s Black and white communities. Notably, Jones is recognized for founding the West Indian Gazette, Britain’s first Black newspaper, as well as Britain’s first Caribbean carnival in 1959, which is believed to be the precursor to today’s Notting Hill Carnival.
