The Seawall

Activity: Film Screening
Co-ordinator: CineGuyana / Moray House Trust
Date: Tuesday 27 August 2013

The Seawall is a narrative short film shot entirely on location in Georgetown. It centres around Marjorie, a Guyanese woman, as she prepares for her 10-year old grandson’s move to America to be with his mother. Struggling with loneliness and abandonment, Marjorie sacrifices her happiness for her grandson’s future. The cast and crew consisted of local Guyanese non-actors, non-professionals and students working alongside US-based Guyanese writer and director Mason Richards and a skeleton crew from Los Angeles. The film offers a rare glimpse into the day-to-day lives of a Guyanese family and shows how emigration affects those left behind.

Mason Richards, fresh from a visit to Carifesta, screened his film at Moray House Trust with the assistance of CineGuyana and had a lengthy discussion with the audience about the casting for the film, competing conceptions of the sea wall, film makers who have inspired his work and his film-making techniques.

Video Clips

1: Mason Richards
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/PFRIc2QS9ow
Mason Richards, writer and director of the short film ‘The Seawall’, talked about the training he received and the inspiration behind the project.

2: CineGuyana
You Tube Clip:http://youtu.be/Bk1KL2xxDhg
Denise Harris and Richard Pitman described the genesis and work of CineGuyana.

3: ‘The Seawall’: plans for the feature film
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/o3IDcrh95kc
Mason Richards, writer and director of the short film, ‘The Seawall’, outlined his plans for the feature length version of the film.

4: Memories of the seawall in Guyana
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/CR56Whek3Dk
The audience shared their memories and perspectives on the sea wall in Guyana with film maker Mason Richards after the screening of his short film.

5: Film-making
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/o4w0rvqbWu0
Mason Richards, young Guyanese film-maker, discussed his film-making techniques with an audience at Moray House Trust in August 2013.

6: The Seawall Trailer
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/vrm45MtfGHI
This short clip of Mason Richards’ film is available on You Tube.