“The Man from El Dorado,” a new documentary film on business magnate Yesu Persaud, was screened on Wednesday at the Pegasus Hotel.
A press release from the filmmakers—Professor David Dabydeen, of the Univer-sity of Warwick and Arlen Harris and Daniyal Harris-Vajda (the founders of Praxis Productions and Urban Gardens)—said the film was made to mark Persaud’s 90th birthday.
“I was very fortunate to enlist the help of such talented filmmakers like Arlen and Dan,” Dabydeen said, while noting that between them his collaborators have made 50 productions for the BBC and other British Television Companies in addition to other international companies like National Geographic, Discovery and MTV.
The release says the filming was done in Guyana and London in October, 2018 in collaboration with local company E-Networks Inc.
It notes that the 45-minute long film, which was inspired by Persaud’s autobiography, “Reaching for the Stars,” uses a mix of archive photos and dramatic reconstruction to explore Persaud’s life. “It traces his biography from the humble origins of his indentured family, his own initial job on the plantations as an assistant rat catcher through his genius in creating lasting institutions like Demerara Bank Limited, the Institute of Private Enterprise Development and Demerara Distillers Limited, which employ thousands of Guyanese,” it adds.
Listed among the contributors are Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, Chairman of Demerara Distillers Limited Komal Samaroo, Brian Tiwarie of the BK Group of Companies, parliamentarian Dr Frank Anthony, the African Cultural and Development Association’s Eric Phillips, The Arts Journal Editor Ameena Gafoor, businessman Stanley Ming and Sheila George.
“It was a pleasure working with so many creative individuals and discovering an amazing country to which I want to come back to, and make many more films, in partnership with Guyana based media companies and individuals,” Harris, who was the co-director and producer of the film, is quoted as saying in the release.
