All Films / Pollination / Coconut/Cane & Cutlass
Coconut/Cane & Cutlass
Canada and Guyana / 1994 / 32m / English
In-Person: Mon 26 June / 19:00 BST
Online: 23 - 29 June
A mythic/poetic rumination on exile, displacement, and nationhood from the perspective of an Indo-Caribbean lesbian who migrated to Canada twenty years ago.
The title of this film represents the psyche behind the collective memory, history and imagination of Indo-Caribbean people. Coconut/Cane & Cutlass, directed by Michelle Mohabeer, is a hybrid fusion of the autobiographical, historical and experiential, in an episodic structure that is richly textured and layered with optically printed imagery, front-screen projection, re-created archival images, oral narratives/histories, a spirit dance, and theatrically stylized dramatic scenes. The poetic, fragmented style and structure of the film represent the exile's internal struggle to "reconstitute" her own sense of self in relation to her history and ancestry.
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Director - Michelle Mohabeer
Producer - Michelle Mohabeer
Cinematographer - Kwoi
Art Director - Kyo McClear, Michelle Mohabeer
Music composer and performers - Lee Pui Ming, Ravi Naimpally
Editor - Irene Buncel
Sound Editor - David Bennett
Location Sound Recordist - Michelle Mohabeer
Studio Sound Recordist - Holly Natale
Cast - Sharon Lewis, Sonia Dhillon, Florette Fernando, Michelle Mohabeer,
Featuring Cast - Mahadai Das, Sheila Mohabeer, Mandisa Sade Taylor
Production Manager - Daisy Lee
Production Co-ordinator - Paul Lee
Camera Assistant - Lisa Fernandez
Stills Photographer - Peter Janes
Music Engineer - Donald Quan
Production Assistants - Angela Lu, Jackie Ferrier, Diane Sookdeo, Neesha Dosanjh, Ayube Khan
Carpenters - Heidi Earnshaw, Rosa Huh
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Captions by Sarya Wu
British Sign Language by Rachel Jones
BSL Editing by Tao-Anas Le Thanh
Audio Descriptions provided by the International Digital Centre
Read Response
Allowing waters and truths to sluice in
A Response to Coconut/Cane & Cutlass, written by Shivanee Ramlochan
Listen to…
Guest Curator Neha Apsara talk about Coconut/Cane & Cutlass and the curated Begana programme in our Audio Programme, Before the Applause - available wherever you get your podcasts.