Summer RELEASE SET for Shantaye’s World Film

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]yanola Pictures is set to begin work on its fifth movie, Shantaye’s World. The film, set in a rural village in Saint Lucia during the 1950s, tells the story of young, independent Shantaye, who is determined to live life on her own terms.

Shantaye and the teenaged son of the community’s French doctor find each other and fall madly in love. This romance is doomed from the start, tainted by the prejudices that guided racial interactions of the period.  Shantaye Anderson (Antonia Charles) is sent away to London, England to escape what her father, Edson Anderson (Carlton Cyril) sees as a fate worse than death, to get involved with a young man not in her social class.

The story explores the intricacies of life on the small island, in an inconsequential village, and showcases simple joys of living uncomplicated lives in a complex society based on mores, values and knowing your place. Film director and CEO of Iyanola Pictures, Mathurine Emmanuel, says she is passionate about this project because it chronicles the stories related to her by her mother and other women who lived during that period.

“It is our Caribbean history, the story of our lives,” Emmanuel explains. “A period of time which we can only relive through the screen in a way which will force us to find joy and love in the past ,love and joy we can, in turn, transport to the future.”

Filming is set to begin during the Easter school break, as most of the 50 actors/actresses are students. Mrs Emmanuel has also continued to tap into the talents of ordinary folk using many of her associates from her community of Desruisseaux, Micoud.

The film project was recently given much-needed exposure during the Caribbean Export EXPOZING event held at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground where the trailer received rave reviews.