Going Beyond*

The idea for the short film Going Beyond came about in December 2012 when I was tasked with creating a film for the practical component of my Capstone Thesis in pursuit of the BFA in Creative Arts majoring in Film and Theatre.

The film explores the rising issue of child custody deprivation and the psychological effects it can have on both child and deprived parent, when in this situation an estranged wife denies her husband the right to speak to or see their son, which greatly affects him.

Originally, a daughter was supposed to be cast, but in the end, a son received the role after it was difficult to find a five-year old girl that was right for the character of the child.

Shooting began in 2013 and many changes had to be made as it was a film with practically no budget, which meant making the best of what was available.

The idea for the film came about because I wanted to do something that was topical in Barbados, which had an appeal that can resonate beyond geographical locations; and I felt as if this was something that continues to be an issue globally.

The thing about the topic is that whether you are the mother or father experiencing a similar situation, both genders can identify with Ronald's (Clish Gittens) plight as the deprived parent.

I remember after one of the limited screenings the film received, a woman came up to me asking questions, based around how did I come up with the idea, and if I ever experienced the situation, then in the end she admitted that she had the same exact experience as the lead character in the film, to the point where she was tempted to get her daughter from the father, get on a plane and leave. N.B. In the end she decided against it in the best interest of her daughter.

It really was a great feeling as a writer and director of a piece of art to have people identify with your work.

More about the film's journey so far:
It has been selected for screening at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival 2015 in Toronto, as well as the Golden Diana International Film Festival in Austria; making it the only film produced in Barbados to be selected for both festivals.

Going Beyond is a NIFCA award winning film, and it also received the award for best editing at the Barbados Visual Media Awards 2014.

Cast and Crew:

The cast and crew went above and beyond the call of duty. Friends made themselves available to do anything, came on set and helped out; they were readily available when calls for shoots had to be made at the last minute, as is the case with the final scene.

The cast, especially lead actor Clish Gittens helped blur the line between cast and crew as he was present at every single shoot to help out, even for scenes that did not feature him, which includes many of those that did not make it into the final cut.

More about the Director:
I have in the past created all media, wrote the scripts, produced and directed the video productions for the Barbados Ministry of Health’s very successful national No Salt campaign in 2013, which saw the production of two television ads using DJ Salt and a remix of his “See me and don’t see me” hit song.

In addition, I have won Caribbean awards for my filmmaking as well as for my journalism having won the Jennifer Jones Media Health Awards for Barbados and the OECS for my feature article on Mental Health.

I was funded through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) by way of the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination as a promising filmmaker to travel to Rome, Italy in 2012 where I spent a week at RAI3 and its affiliate stations learning the ins and outs of the Italian television and video industry.

Furthermore, I travelled to Paramaribo, Suriname for two weeks in 2013 after being hired to film Carifesta 11 there.

Films I directed as part of the 2012, 2013, and 2014 48-hour film challenges have all won multiple awards including each winning best film for the year it competed.