Jolene Mendes Producing a taste from home

For the past two years she’s been following these dreams as a budding film and TV producer in the US, bringing scripts to the screen. Her most recent work – one that she says she feels immensely connected to culturally – is entitled Porgies & Bass and is making its way around the US film festival circuit.

The film has already won the Award for Best Short Film at The Coney Island Film Festival. Jolene is credited as Associate Producer of “Porgies & Bass”. An official description of the film reads, “Taking a taste from home, Porgies and Bass is a short film about the story of men in their primal quest for fish in a tale of two cultures colliding on a blazing hot summer’s day.”

“I felt very familiar with that story,” she says of the two men from differing backgrounds clashing over such a culturally important and relevant motif as fishing.

“I most definitely feel connected to our culture. As a producer, I am lucky enough to find stories and bring them from a script to a screen, and I will always connect with stories that bring me a feeling of home,” she says in conviction about her feelings surrounding our culture and the influence it has on her work.

Her homecoming also signifies the beginning of shooting on her current project, a superhero flick entitled “Super Zeros” (working title) about a group of retired superhero friends who come to Trinidad and Tobago for a vacation but are forced back into their old roles given the country’s high crime rate. The idea for the film was brought to Jolene by Venezuelan-born Director, Anthony-James Faure, of whom she says, “Anthony and I have been talking about doing a film together between TT and the US for over a year now and when he came to me with the idea, it drew me in.”

She expresses the movie’s appeal is the public’s common love for superheroes on the big screen saving the day. Of the overall feel of the film, she says, “We plan on bringing a comedy-drama vibe to it.”

“Oh, I am very excited,” she says about returning home after two years of working abroad to engage in work that she loves and feels strongly about. She voices that TT is a beautiful and resplendently cultural place but not all persons are aware of this. She hopes that filming in her home country will spread the word about our unique flavour, tenacity, and richness.

“If there is anything that I must get ‘just right’,” she says about the Trinbagonian representation in “Super Zeros”, “it would be to showcase that despite the crime going on in our country, we have genuinely good people who deserve to live in peace.”

She says the choice to shoot a superhero movie in a fictionalised TT where crime has run amuck was not a politically conscious one. “It was definitely coincidental, but in the best way,” she admits, noting the serious crime issues facing our society and the positive messages “Super Zeros” may superimpose. She hopes that the film’s story will show people that “it is possible to do something about [crime], as well as all the positives our country has to offer.”

In fact, it is this ability to bring awareness to important issues through film that is Jolene’s favourite part of her job. “The most fulfilling part is definitely being able to bring stories to life that can inspire others,” she says, “being able to bring someone out of a tough reality even if it is just for ten minutes.

“I do believe film is one of the most powerful ways to make a difference.”

Of her future work, and what she would like to produce next, she says, “Any work that betters a cause, or changes a life, catches my attention.” She would like to continue making films that affect people in positive ways, films that inspire and bring awareness to global issues.

As for TT’s budding film industry and the 2016 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which ends on Tuesday and which featured many local films created and shot in Trinidad, Jolene thinks it is becoming stronger and improving each year.

“We have so many talented people in the field, all of whom I would be lucky to work with in the future.” This past week, she attended a variety of local _ lm screenings during the TTFF and says the films were a true showcase of our talent and vibrant culture, and that she is excited to see what our local artists and filmmakers produce next.

Next for her is bringing our beautiful islands to life in “Super Zeros”, with some of her own input. Beyond it all, she says her commitment and passion are what drives her continuously in every sphere and echoes that her only goal is to create awe-inspiring and life-changing work, starting with her own.