There was not a dry eye in the house when the lights came on at the end of the film Chrissy on Monday night. And the credits were met with loud applause, whistles and screams.
The locally written film produced in the capable hands of Marcia Weekes and husband Dave premiered at the Olympus Theatres to specially invited guests, Government ministers and the cast of the movie.
While the theme of the movie was about bullying, many other issues were highlighted in the film.
Dave told the audience that the movie was being shown in London and Canada next week and special arrangements were being made to show it in the United States next year.
He urged people not to pirate the movie and said while they got corporate support, Chrissy was funded from sales of the Hush DVDs.
Entertainer Mac Fingall, speaking at the end, admitted he cried during the movie and asked Minister of Education Ronald Jones, who was also present, to show the movie in local schools.
Jones said he was pleased to see children doing their best and he urged the young cast to continue on their journey.
Marietta Carter-Narcisse, a Barbadian working in Hollywood as a make-up artiste for over 30 years, worked on the Chrissy project and also spoke out on piracy, urging Barbadians to invest in film-making.
“I think we can be competitive globally. The kids did a phenomenal job. Marcia made a wonderful film on a small budget. We can only raise the bar higher after this.”
Chrissy, the movie, was made with children from Praise Academy, friends, family and some members of the Mustard Seed Production Company.
The movie is about an underprivileged little girl (Makalah Harrison) who triumphs despite being poor and befriends a new white student (Cara O’Donnell), who is the object of the school’s bullies.
Mac Fingall plays the principal of the school and Peter Boyce, one of the teachers. (NS)
