Guyanese Onel Sanford-Belle has taken a quantum leap from broadcast journalism to film producing and landed squarely on her feet, with her music video being selected for screening at Cinemondays in New York, and her team winning best filmmaker(s) for the month of December last year.
Onel, who recently graduated from the New York Film Academy (NYFA), in New York City, started off as producer and anchor of ‘iNews’, an evening newscast in the British Virgin Islands. In fact she is credited with having pioneered the newscast in 2000.
Now an independent film and television producer, she is interested in telling human-interest stories through varies genres of film-making: documentary, TV series, music videos or narrative features.
Onel founded ElShaFord Media Productions, under which she has produced and directed several documentary films, educational videos, promotional videos and corporate videos for both private and public sector entities. She has provided regional coverage of events such as the 2003 Carifesta in Suriname, CMEx (Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism Conferences) in Barbados and the Dominican Republic, Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Conference in St Thomas, USVI and Hurricane Ivan’s Devastation in Grenada in 2004.
In 2008, Onel added fictional narratives to her producing credits, when she produced a number of short films in New York City. These included It’s My Turn, a docu-drama on AIDS, told from the virus’ perspective and directed by Thabo Dabengwa; The Silent Scream a romantic drama directed by Suchitra Varma; and Coral and Heart a comedy directed by Irving Franco among others.
Onel stepped it up when she wrote, produced and executive produced a unique music video for 20-year-old Kittian singer Ouida Nisbett. Ouida, who now lives in the BVI, is the current Caribbean Star and Caribbean Star award holder. According to her myspace page, she is one of a few contemporary gospel/R&B/Soul artistes to capture the hearts of the British Virgin Islands with her soulful vocals, originality, passion for music and spiritual intimacy.
The music video was for Ouida’s latest hit “When You Love Somebody”, and was shot on location in the Virgin Islands and New York City and directed by Suchitra Varma. It was this video, which featured strong narrative elements, that won a screening slot in December 2008 at Cinemondays, a monthly short film screening series in New York City dedicated to promoting the work of independent filmmakers.
According to a statement read at the event, the “When You Love Somebody” video was experimental given the fact that Onel, the writer, producer and executive producer; Suchitra, the director and Siddharth Gupta, the director of photography were debutants to music videos.
The song “When You Love Somebody” screams romance, the statement said. However, the project was intended to be unique and Onel made a concerted effort to veer from the typical music video storyline, and since love is universal, chose to use the film to explore love in a very special mother/child context. It tells the story of so many Caribbean nationals and other expatriates who have travelled to metropolises such as New York and Hollywood in pursuit of their big break, creating the paradox of separation from their families.
The ambitious “student film”, was produced on a shoestring budget mainly financed by Onel, who was a NYF A student at the time. She said the biggest challenge was location. The film was eventually shot on location in New York City and Tortola and Virgin Gorda, BVI.
Onel said the music video would not have been possible without the excellent direction and commitment from Suchitra, and lovely photography by Siddharth. She also recognized contributions from Paul Kang and Lanier Westmoreland as associate producers and Josh Webber as assistant director. She thanked Rodney Skelton of the British Virgin Island Film Commission, and NYFA faculty members Thomas Barnes and Anita Tovich, Ouida, Mario Watson, the child actor.
Meanwhile, in a recent online interview with The Scene, Onel revealed that she is currently in production for a provocative documentary for which she is also the director. When she is not working on productions, she volunteers her time at the International Documentary Association (IDA) and Film in the City events. She is a member of the IDA and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers.
Onel said she was interested in using her skills to assist with the promotion of Guyana’s eco-tourism product and had expressed an interest in doing this a few years ago to then Minister of Tourism, Manzoor Nadir. However nothing came of it.
(thescene@stabroeknews.com)