‘Facing Reality’

Caribbean culture is prominent throughout the movie and several Trinidadian-born actors are featured in the cast, including Michael Puckerin, Richard Clouden, Charles Davis, Roger Libert and Kevon Pantin.

Puckerin served his country as a soldier many years ago and also represented the country at the 1982 Pan America Games. He now resides in the state of Massachusetts and serves as a mentor to youths in his community. Davis is originally from Arima and owns the Legacy Sound System, which is based in Boston.

Clouden grew up in Laventille, Port-of-Spain before migrating to the US. He has been involved in Boston Carnival for the last 20 years and has worked with D'Horizon Mas Camp, Hawks Mas Camp and Sesame Flyers from New York. Clouden owns the Sound Vibration Sound System as well as one of the popular Caribbean radio stations in Boston called Big City 101.3 FM.

“These two Trinidadian actors (Richard and Michael),” James explained, “are very good friends of mine. Richard and I work together on various community activities and events such as the Caribbean Festival, we host annually here and we play a huge role as mentors for the children in our community. Michael and I are involved in a community youth programme where we teach children core values and help build their self-esteem.

“We encourage them to seek an education and Michael encourages them in sports since that's one of his strongest talents. The other two Trini guys, Charlie and Kevin auditioned at the casting call and did an awesome job, so they were selected for the roles,” he said.

Hailing from the north-western city of Montego Bay, James’ love for television and film was apparent from an early age and he thanks his family for “always supporting and encouraging” him to pursue his dreams.

“As a child, I always wanted to know how people got into the TV,” James recalled, “and I was always curious about how movies were made.”

At age 13, James received his first video camera as a gift from a family member and began to explore his latent curiosity. He described the camera as a “dysfunctional “hand-me-down,” but the budding filmmaker tinkered around until he fixed it and then carried it around with him daily.

“I filmed everything with that camera,” he revealed, “but I focused mainly on nature and wildlife because my family wasn’t fond of being filmed. I nursed the dream for a while, but it was only after I moved to Boston when I was 24 years old that I really got the chance to pursue it.”

In addition to his passion for film, James had a knack for business and opened his own salon called Top Notch Barbers.

Even though his barbershop was successful, James still yearned to achieve his life-long dream of becoming a filmmaker and enrolled at the Cambridge School of Arts, where he pursued courses in film-making and editing. At Cambridge, James took full advantage of all avenues to hone his skills and decided to bring his lessons to life in the form of a movie.

In 2006, he graduated with a Bachelors’ Degree in Theatre and Arts and formed his own Top Notch Production Company. James then began filming his first official production: an hour-long motion picture entitled, Blood Shed. This movie was completed and released in 2007.

“My first movie was very successful,” said James. “A lot more than I anticipated: I got a lot of sales from the DVD distribution and the film was shown in Boston, New York, Toronto and Jamaica. The story was based on the true life story of a friend and had a lot of violence in it, but it was well-received.

In making the second film, I opted to reduce a lot of the violence in the film while still conveying the message I wanted to show. After listening to reviews of the first one, I wanted to make the movie more enjoyable for the whole family without too violence being shown.”

His second film, Facing Reality is based on true life events and tells the story of two brothers who journey to America from Jamaica to establish a better life for themselves. As they attempt to make the “American Dream” a reality, each takes a different path in order to fill his personal desires.

Initially they struggle with citizenship issues, homelessness, unemployment and poverty and while one brother takes the straight and narrow path, the other invests in the fast-life of the drug trade.

“I wanted to send a positive message to my Caribbean people,” James explained. “Although I haven't been living in Jamaica for the last 11 years, I kept updated with all that’s taking place with the whole violence and drama over there.

This movie will show all Jamaicans and Caribbean people the power of decision-making and the consequences of the choices we make in life. I think it’s a great educational tool not only for Caribbean people, but also for everyone who dreams of making a better life.” James intends to screen the film, here in Trinidad before the end of the year and hopes it will be enjoyed and selected to be shown in next year’s Film Festival.

“I’m sorry I missed the festival this year,” he said, “but I was busy finishing the movie and organising to premiere it here in Boston, so I missed the deadline. I think it’s a good movie for kids to watch, so that they will understand the importance of the choices they make in their lives and I want to take it around the Caribbean and hopefully, inspire my people positively as much as I can.

The language of the movie was essentially Caribbean meaning that all the Jamaican actors spoke their own language and the Trini actors spoke in their natural tongue as well, but with a proper spin of an American understanding.”

For more information on Cleon James and/or the movie, Facing Reality, please visit www.topnotchvision.com, the Top Notch page on Facebook or email: topnotchleo@hotmail.com