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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
Bahamas Film Commissioner Craig Woods and guest Kay Evans with actor Dennis Haysbert at BIFF's closing night.
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Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) debuted The Black Moses as its closing film at the 10th edition of the festival, featuring Bahamian director Travolta Cooper and the narration of American actor Dennis Haysbert.
The unique documentary incorporates a mixture of traditional narration and character acting by Haysbert. It was a style that veteran film critic Jeffrey Lyons said he had never seen before.
Haysbert, who has starred in film and television productions such as 24, Waiting to Exhale and Jarhead, said the unique storytelling method was part of what attracted him to the project.
“This is not only a history lesson,” he said. “This is a very unique opportunity to perform. I embraced it immediately.”
Director Travolta Cooper pointed out that The Bahamas celebrates 40 years of Independence this year. With 40 years carrying Biblical significance, The Black Moses likens Lynden Oscar Pindling to the Biblical character of Moses. As Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery and was succeeded by Joshua, Cooper said Bahamians are now looking for a “Joshua” to take The Bahamas to another level of development.
“There is a great cry for economic independence in The Bahamas and throughout the African diaspora,” Cooper said. “We sort of wanted to use The Bahamas to tell this greater African story.”
Haysbert attended the premiere of the film at the Atlantis Theatre. It was the second time over the course of the weekend that the festival featured an actor who had played legendary freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. Danny Glover, who had played Mandela in a 1986 film, had been honored with BIFF’s Lifetime Achievement Award two days earlier. Glover also attended the premiere of The Black Moses.
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