Follow your dreams. Rise above it.
TRAILER
STORY
In an off-beat nuanced film, Rocksy, a small-time hustler, journeys into chaos to steal a car while his lady friend Rosie hangs a watercolor painting in their modest room and dreams of peace. The fight to survive their broken dreams and aspirations forces them to commit a crime that changes their lives forever. Shot on the streets of Kingston where poverty, beauty and desperation collide, this Jamaican story transcends its Island locale to become a universal story of people whose poverty seems to trap them in a life where reckless acts appear the only road to an elusive better life.
CAST
ROCKSY
Christopher ‘Johnny’ Daley
Christopher ‘Johnny’ Daley Is an award winning professional Jamaican actor of twenty years. “Kingston Paradise” is his first lead role in a feature film. He’s well known in Jamaica for his role as ‘Johnny’ in the famous Jamaican TV drama series, ‘Lime Tree Lane’. He’s acted in other Jamaican TV productions, ‘Oliver At Large’, ‘Comedy Buss’ and in the feature film ‘One Love’. He’s also a presenter on various radio shows on the Island and a dedicated actor to the local Jamaican theatre scene in plays such as, ‘It’s a Dance Hall thing’, ‘Cindyrelisha and the DJ Prince’, ‘Strength of a Woman’ and many more current plays, having won the best Actor Boy Award in Jamaica for 2010. He’s also a stand up comedian, both in Jamaica and abroad. His popularity in Jamaica and among the diaspora in the USA, UK and Canada is near cult status.
ROSIE
Camille Small
This is her first narrative film and first feature length film. She has acted in short TV Public Service Announcements with The National Council on Drug Abuse and the Caribbean Poison Network. Her acting experience has been mainly in small community plays and was a member of an inner-city theatre
MALT
Greggory Nelson
He’s an emerging dance hall DJ, ‘Rock Supreme!’ An energetic, amusing entertainer and musician. This is his first feature film, but has appeared in music videos and acted in a recent Jamaican TV drama comedy series called, ‘Me an Mi Kru.’ In music, he has had guest appearances in Jarvis Churches hit song, “Just like that single” from his album, “Going Back Home.” And presently, he drives a taxi on the streets of Kingston.
FARIS
Paul Shoucair
His full time occupation was a music Store Owner, “Mobile Music” and now a restaurant owner of vegetarian food. His hobbies are Scuba Diving and is also a Scuba Diving Instructor and loves deep sea fishing. In his own words: “I’ve been involved in the music business for 15 years in Jamaica. Before that I kicked around from job to job in Toronto, Canada working mostly in the hospitality and construction trades.” He’s always had a serious interest in film particularly in European films. He’s had a few cameo appearances on TV but ‘Kingston Paradise’ is his first feature film acting debut.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Kingston Paradise is a beautiful, off-beat urban drama that allows us to experience its characters and its journey. In a very simple plot, although not unfamiliar, its story and characters reflect a uniqueness, which heightens a contemporary chaos in urban spaces that looks at the desperate choices we continue to make. It explores the broken dreams and aspirations of our youth by using a kind of humour and pathos, making it a poignant and powerful drama which is an unusual combination. As a result, the film does not glorify social injustice, hustlers and angst instead it feels deeply for the people, which was a chief motivating factor in making this movie. I wanted to tell a very meaningful universal story about everyday characters and their simple, yet complicated lives. With the use of the watercolour painting as a metaphor that’s pastoral and fast becoming another world, yet a quintessential Caribbean view juxtaposed against a harsh urban story, this film shows the reality and struggles and the only alternative is to rise above it, but the lead character never does until its too late.
CREW
Writer/Director – Mary Wells
Producers – Frances-Anne Solomon, Mary Wells, Sajoya Alcott
Executive Producers – Steven Istock, Frances-Anne Solomon, Mary Wells
Co-Executive Producer – Caribbean Creativity
Production Design – Suzana Gregory
Music (Original Score) – John Welsman
Editor – Dominique Naipaul
Director of Photography – Quarry Bastfield
Costume Design – Ruth Francis
Make-up/ Wardrobe Stylist – Sandra Gayle
Legal Services – Danny Webber, (Hall Webber LLp)
Very Special Thanks to:
The production & post-production crews both in Jamaica and Canada
Music Artists: Demarco, Wayne Marshall, The Wizard & Rock Supreme
and the community of South Kingston, Jamaica
CONTACT
A CaribbeanTalesflix Production
www.caribbeantales.ca
International Sales:
California Pictures Inc.
info@californiapicturesinc.com
CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution
info@caribbeantales-worldwide.com