at the ACWWS

ON THE MAP was screened at the ACWWS (Association for Caribbean Women Writers & Scholars) Conference at St. Geroge's University in Grenada on Thursday May 22nd. On hand to discuss the film were Dr. Denise deCaires Narain from Sussex University and Dr. Shalini Puri from the University of Pittsburgh. Denise and Shalini responded by raising a number of questions and comments. There was discussion about the term "creole" ...re a desire for a creole identity which is simultaneously nostalgic and uncomfortable in its complexity...one might look at a "creole complex" versus a "complex creole" - to distinguish between the different legacies of colonialism (which were not all inclusive) without letting go of a utopian vision. Issues were raised about the difficulty of dealing with the visual beauty throughout the film and the framing of the migrants as moving installation works which some felt helped imagine new ways of seeing the un/documented migrant, while others felt these images were too heavily mediated. Members of the audience felt that the difficulty experienced by migrants was largely a Bajan phenomena. There was discussion about the image of a naked man walking in and out of the sea as a loaded and problemmatic image. Others felt it should be read within the context of the film - a man coming and going through the waters of the Caribbean, almost a dreamlike sequence which acts as relief from the density of the information offered throughout the film. Reframing the stereotypes creates opportunities for dialogue about how we might choose to represent these complex issues.