Avatar. It blew my mind. I had no interest in seeing this movie, even though persons who saw it told me it was great. I am also not a fan of the cinema because my overhead projector and surround system works just as fine in my living room/entertainment centre. Last weekend, my wife and I celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary. My kids and grandkids sponsored lunch, but my wife did not want to end it with a DVD presentation at home, so it was Avatar.
We bought our tickets and were given two 3D glasses. Just before the movie started we were told to put on the glasses. Immediately I was implanted into the movie. The action was taking place on the tip of my nose, filling up all the cinema space in front of me. On more than one occasion I found myself ducking out of the way of flying objects. Persons were screaming only to burst out in laughter at their first reaction. I thought I had seen it all, masterful animation, as in Jurassic Park, and what we in Guyana called camera tricks, but this 3D movie presentation beats all for greatness.
There are two things I want to point out about this movie. First: Technology aside, about half an hour into the movie I was somewhat angry. The theme of the story is based on the same reasons Europeans had for their exploits in Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean – disrespect for the indigenous peoples and their culture and the use of superior force to go after the riches above and below their lands.
In the case of Avatar, Americans are on a planet populated by indigenous aliens who reside in a beautiful forest that sits on top of a precious metal, valued at two million/billion dollars a kilogramme. My wife could not contain her anger when the culture and beliefs of the aliens were called “Voodoo,” a stark reference to African-derived religion. That was the end of the make believe. Without the technology this movie would have fallen flat.
My second point: This movie has indicated how far back Guyana is in terms of technology and development. The 3D technology used in this movie is innovative in terms of movie-making. The director comes up with an idea and over a period of four years he got engineers to build cameras and present new technology to get the end result.
This was not a government venture. It was ordinary people having the ability to let their imagination run wild. It is about being in an environment which does not stifle creativity and which has copyright laws to establish confidence. It is a reality which sometimes makes me loathe being born in Guyana. Thirty-eight years ago in 1972, after seeing Operation Greenheart in my early teens, I wrote a letter to the then Minister of Information and Culture, Mr McDavid: “Since your appointment to office there has been considerable talk to the effect that film plays an important part in our culture and that many of the films entering the country speak their own culture, of which we are not a part. Taking this into consideration I have wondered and would like to ask why we cannot do our own filming and emphasize our own culture in it?”
I got a response from the Minister and was taken on tour of the ministry in Brickdam. They were only able to do black and white film processing and I can distinctly remember Jean Harding working in the film editing room. The technology for what I had in mind was not available. Operation Greenheart, although filmed in Guyana was processed at Movie Tone in England, because we did not have colour processing equipment.
A few years later I answered an advertisement and began movie camera training at the Film Centre. We were using the 35mm Aeroflex movie camera. It was standard with what was used by United Artist and Colombia Pictures at the time. Four minutes from a roll of film and you had the tedious task of stopping and reloading in a black bag. Cameras have come a long way since then.
I watched the building behind the Film Centre go up. I watched as the Germans installed both colour and black and white film labs in that building. I left the Film Centre when I realized that there was no intention to do movie productions – the gift from the Germans was not for commercial use.
The previous administration made a decision to go video to the detriment of the film equipment and a potential film industry. Cuba knew the importance of the labs. They were dismantled and sent there, while the majority of our rich film record was destroyed.
As I looked at Avatar and later Larry King’s interview with the filmmakers I was thinking – from the Aeroflex to 3D cameras. While the world is rocketing ahead, Guyana is standing still and maybe has gone backwards. Again I wondered. Is there no political figure in Guyana with an eye on greatness?
No wonder we cannot state where we are going. There is no imagination in our political culture. No one with a passion for music, no one with a passion for theatre, no one with a passion for development, no one… The period 1966 to 2010. What a loss.
Yours faithfully,
F Skinner
