The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

ON THE closing night of the Bahamas International Film Festival Travolta Cooper, director of the “Black Moses”, shared the stage with Hollywood actor Dennis Haysbert after presenting the provocative documentary on the life of Sir Lynden Pindling. The intricately woven documentary signed off a week of film festival activities that began with another set of Bahamian film makers.

Andrew Melby and Reggie Henderson opened the festival on an equally high note with the screening of Bahamian Son. For the first time in the ten year history of (BIFF) Bahamian films opened and closed the event.

Bahamian Son is an international, independent feature film based on true events from the life of writer Reggie Henderson. The story follows Kevin as he sets out to find his father whom he hasn’t seen in more than thirty years. During his journey Kevin examines his own life and the family he built for himself, as well as his childhood growing up in the projects of North Minneapolis.

When Kevin does track down his father, he travels to the Bahamas to meet him. What happens in the Bahamas opens Kevin’s eyes to a world and a history he never knew existed; it is also another test of Kevin’s beliefs regarding family, loyalty, and what it means to be a son, a father and a man.

Leah Eneas plays one of the leading roles in the film. Bahamian Son is the second film she has acted in.

“I play the role of love interest. When (Kevin) gets to the Bahamas I show him around and we end up having some feelings for each other. Things just take an interesting turn. What I love most about the role is that I got to be myself; obviously I am in my own home town, so I do get to show people around every now and then. Another part about the film is that they mesh two different cultures and you can actually see the beauty of the differences of the cultures. I got to be myself,” she said.

Leah said she throughly enjoyed participating in the movie, because she got to connect with different people in the industry and build her portfolio.

“I have been on stage since I was ten years old and I always liked being on stage. I went to theater school by fate. And when I finished I was accidentally introduced to movies by being the craft service catering person. Then when someone saw my personality they said ‘oh she is funny, put her on camera real quick’. After that I started to audition for a lot movies. This is only my second film and there are going to be a lot more in future,” she said.

This year’s festival showcased 108 films from 32 different countries. The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative; Documentary; New Visions; Short Film. Other categories included Panorama Narrative; Documentary and Short Films. There was a Youth Film Workshop with five participating schools as well as a World Cinema Showcase spotlighting Chinese films provided by the Chinese Embassy in the Bahamas.

The A-list event also saw actor, producer and humanitarian Danny Glover receive the Bahamas International Film Festival’s (BIFF) prestigious Career Achievement Award.