Kingston Paradise
Kingston Paradise is a 2013 Jamaican feature-length film written and directed by Mary Wells and starring popular Jamaican entertainer Christopher 'Johnny' Daley.
| Kingston Paradise | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Mary Wells |
| Written by | Mary Wells |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Quarry Bastfield |
| Edited by | Dominique Naipaul co-exec prod = Caribbean Creativitiy |
| Music by | John Welsman |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | California Pictures & CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc. |
Release dates | |
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | Jamaica |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$250,000[5] |
Plot
Life on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica is about frantic survival for small-time hustler Rocksy—a taxi driver/part-time pimp—and Rosie, a prostitute, his roomie and business investment. They dream of something different, another life with a future. On the peeling walls of their tenement, Rosie prominently places a painting she owns that gives them both hope and something tangible to cling to. It's an exotic beach view of another more peaceful world, but they exist miles and worlds a part. So with his friend and cohort Malt, Rocksy eyes a fancy sports car nearby and together they devise a plot to steal it to sell for parts. The car belongs to a local Lebanese businessman, Faris and they figure the money could change their lives immediately, but of course it’s only temporary. Their plot is also risky and not well thought out. Rosie is dead set against it and fed up. She dreams for the beach view, she wants out, out of being entangled and out of the life. But she's bait and Rocksy cannot manage without her. When she finally leaves Rocksy becomes even more desperate and devastated. He does the unthinkable. In the chaos something changes within him, something rises and like the sun, it sets. In the context and contrasts of the Jamaican landscape its backstory is political, as the current embedded system doesn't allow for change...
Production and release
Kingston Paradise is the first feature by the well-noted Jamaican filmmaker Mary Wells[6] who also produced the film. Kingston Paradise had a September 2013 premiere at Toronto's CaribbeanTales Film Festival.[4]
The film won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the CaribbeanTales Festival in 2013;[4] the Festival Programmer's Award for Narrative Feature at the Pan African Film Festival in 2014;[4] and Best Diaspora Film at the 2014 Africa Movie Academy Awards.[7] The production company is CaribbeanTalesFlix, along with sales representative California Pictures, took the title to 2014's Cannes Film Market.[1][8]
See also
References
- "Kingston Paradise for Cannes". Jamaica Observer. May 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- "Christopher 'Johnny' Daley stars in 'Kingston Paradise'". Jamaica Star. September 13, 2013. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- "'Kingston Paradise' premieres in T&T". Trinidad Express. September 25, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- Grizzle, Shereita (February 19, 2014). "'Kingston Paradise' Wins Pan African Film Festival Award". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- Batson-Savage, Tanya (September 1, 2013). "Shooting for 'Paradise': Mary Wells on Her Debut Film". Susumba. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- Cooke, Mel (July 26, 2009). "Mary Wells wraps up shooting 'Kingston Paradise'". Jamaica Gleaner. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
- "'Kingston Paradise' wins at 'Africa's Oscars'". Jamaica Gleaner. May 28, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
- Obenson, Tambay A. (June 3, 2014). "CaribbeanTales' Jamaica-Set Feature 'Kingston Paradise' Pushes For Rare International Distribution". Shadow and Act: On Cinema of the African Diaspora. Indiewire. Retrieved August 2, 2014.