The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

THE COLOURS of the Bahamian flag were in full bloom at Fort Charlotte last Sunday.
Young and the old came out to celebrate the Bahamas’ 40th Anniversary of Independence in the shape of a music video conducted by the Keen i Media Group.
With the festivities kicking off around 6pm, just over three hundred Bahamians came to help the media group produce a commemorative music video centred on the Bahamas’ National Anthem.

Bahamian pop singer Angelique Sabrina and the Canto Singers joined the crowd of locals waving their mini flags.
Erik Russell, President of the Keen i Media Group, said he was very happy with the overall turnout of the event. He describes the production as “one hundred percent Bahamian made.”
The video is expected to be released on July 1 via the Keen i Media Group.

Mr Russell told Tribune Entertainment: “Even if you are not a Bahamian, this is something that you can connect with. Independence in general inspired this event, not only the 40th. We really felt the focus of the Bahamas’ National Anthem was something that anyone could get involved in and not be anything political.”
He said the Fort Charlotte site was chosen because of its historic value.
At the site there were two Bahamian flags as large as ten by twenty feet. One of the flags was seen held around the perimeter by members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Mr Russell said: “We thought that the fort was a nice control space because when you are shooting a video, you can have a thousand people there but if they are spread out it doesn’t look like many. So we thought it was a great spot to keep people in a tight area and not spread out so much.”
He said the event was a great tangible way for people to show their pride and patriotism.

“Sometimes we can be defensive if someone attacks us as a country, whether it is something on the internet or anything else, we would defend the Bahamas but sometimes we need to do something that is very positive and focused on the country and what holds us together,” said Mr Russell.
As the project started to come together before the actual event, Mr Russell said one of the lines that really stood out in the National Anthem, was “Pledge To Excel.”
He said

“We see that as something that individuals, companies, and people can make a commitment to because there is so much negative out there, this is something that is very positive. And that is the centre of this project, which is to pledge to excel.”
After the event, people took to the media group’s Facebook page to share their views.
One person said:

“The event tonight was amazing. Great turnout, the Royal Bahamas Police Force band was top notch, and the other police force officers that demonstrated their skill at handling the colours (that is, the flag) were awesome. So many fantastic moments, with students singing their hearts out and people sharing in their national pride. Thank you to all who participated and all who helped to make it happen.”
Mr Russell said the National Anthem was kept very traditional in the video, as they did not want to remix it in any way.

“We did not want to mess with it, we wanted it to remain traditional. This is not just for this one event, we want this to be something people would be proud of going forward. Something that they would share and say this is who we are,” said Mr Russell.
He said: “The scene at Fort Charlotte is the finale of the music video, but there are also other scenes that we are shooting. We shot some scenes in Grand Bahama and we are shooting around Nassau in places like downtown.”