THE JOURNEY NOW START – is a 90 minute documentary of the
Soca Warriors journey and qualification to World Cup 2006 in
Germany. From Egypt to Bahrain, this compilation of varied video
documentation tells the story of the smallest nation ever to qualify
through the voice of senior sports journalist and archivist, Tony
Harford. An all local production, condensing almost 100 hours of
material shot over a two year period, this is contemporary Trinidad
& Tobago from a football perspective.
“Our warriors have evolved from great
indigenous peoples
whose drums were silenced centuries ago by a changing world
order.
If we say carnival is a woman, then the sport life of T&T
embodies the power, pride and passion of our masculine energy.
Our culture, borne of salacious rebellion, exploded
from oil pan, trash can rhythms
heralding the birth of a modern Caribbean nation.
This is our turn, our time.
It will always be remembered as a good time to be a Trini.
A time when hearts and will united to manifest small island
victories on a First World stage.
For forty-three years we have independently fine tuned our
united diversity –
one people, one nation, one Goal.”
From “The Journey Now Start” documentary
Written , Produced and Directed by: Joanne Johnson
Treatment
THE JOURNEY NOW START -
Trinidad and Tobago is the smallest country to ever qualify for
the globe’s most popular sporting/media event, World Cup Football.
Our entire nation, a mere 1.2 million, will bask in the eternal
glory of the Soca Warriors debut performance this year in Germany. A
young and ambitious people, with only 43 years of political self
determination, we boast a treasure trove of world class celebrities
on and off the field of Sport: Olympic medalists Haseley Crawford,
Ato Boldon and George Bovell III; Cricket great Brian Lara; (Nobel
Laureate for literature, V.S. Naipaul; and three international
beauty queens with one Miss World and two Miss Universe and titles).
Unfortunately, so much of our history remains unrecorded and
until recently, as if in preparation for this World Cup
qualification, very little has been broadcast; even locally. We have
depended on the First World to tell us who and what we are. In this
millennium however, the technological revolution means “no more
excuses” for the rapidly developing Caribbean! With a digital camera
in every hand on every plane ride and in every village, THE JOURNEY
NOW START condenses about 100 hours of footage commissioned over two
years by executive producer, Tony Harford; a senior, local sport’s
journalist/ archivist.
Told from Tony’s point of view, the work seeks to accurately
represent our diversity and includes the man on the street, the
players themselves, and of course the man of the moment Jack Warner
(a FIFA Vice President) who made this national dream his personal
reality and mission for over two decades. With cameras on “all
access” passes in most situations, footage was recorded at liberty -
in locker and hotel rooms, on planes and on the track. Our country’s
President, Prime Minster, local media and sports personalities move
in and out of the storyline with familiar ease.
THE JOURNEY NOW START draws on a number of visual techniques:
Title boards “bind” the story; newspaper headlines connect the
journey to the daily life of the nation; and supporting photographic
stills align cultural or historical themes to football. Split screen
techniques are often employed to imply diversity, abundance and
context. The opening titles for example include many of our Sports’
heroes, and they run simultaneously - men and women; past and
present; black and white juxtaposed with color, video with stills,
setting an “organic” tone for the organization of the work. Life
happens here and there for this person and that simultaneously, the
present is built on the past and so on. The feel for this is borne
from a close appreciation of our Natural and human landscape, rich
in complex diversity and unified disorder. The intention is to place
this single football success in the context of a wider field of our
human existence.
The work aims to create a sports and culture adventure that is
both accurate and entertaining – by using graphic segues,
illustrated sequences, and ending with a dramatization of our
cultural conversation played by leading local actors, Wendell
“Snacks” Etienne and Patti-Anne Ali. It is all supported and
amplified by a local sound track that combines genres, styles and
generations.
THE JOURNEY NOW START is for Caribbean people and lovers of the
Caribbean everywhere. This “forever” piece is a keepsake time
capsule that is at times a sing-a-long, feel good celebration of our
First World victory.
Trinidad and Tobago needed this success. It came as a salve on
social and political wounds and is of great comfort for a small
island people battling big city-styled crime. It is likely that this
crime too is ironically instigated by the very cable and satellite
media that motivates our positive aspirations.
This documentary is unapologetically our turn, to tell one of our
stories without translation. But the intention is to create
universality, not exclusivity. The colloquial title comes from a
1980’s Calypso Classic and sings of no feeble hope. In true Trinbago
style, we bold facedly tell the world and ourselves to be expectant.
There is ever more to come….THE JOURNEY NOW START. |
