GUIANA 1838 at editing stage in US
Stabroek News
May 22, 2004
GUIANA 1838, the first motion picture shot in Guyana this century, is now in the editing stage in the United States, and is expected to be in theatres this August after a private screening in Guyana.
The film will first open commercially in Australia before making its way onto screens across the US and Canada and before opening worldwide in 52 select countries, according to a press release from NriFilmProd.
GUIANA 1838 focuses on the abolition of slavery and the arrival of Indians in Guyana during the 19th century. The film stars superstar Kumar Gaurav and Bollywood star Aarti Bathija as Urmila. British actor Thomas Garvey plays plantation driver David while local actor Henry Rodney is cast as Cabi, a maroon who returned from the jungles to find that slavery is abolished, the release noted.
The film arrived in the editing lab in the US in terrific condition, the release said, and it suffered no damage from the hot climate here while it was in production. This was good news to US-based Guyanese filmmaker Rohit Jagessar who immediately gave the green light to his production assistants to start preparation for his next three films to be made in Guyana.
According to Jagessar, this proves that feature films can be made in Guyana with very good results despite intense heat especially in savannah areas of the country.
According to the release, overseas filmmakers and film studios have been closely following the GUIANA 1838 production to see the results Guyana locations offer.
Guyana offers tremendous scenic locations to tell stories in many genres, according to the filmmaker whose next film is a toss up between the second part of his GUIANA 1838 trilogy or The Pork Knockers, a story he wrote alongside GUIANA 1838, the release said.