Caribbean Beat — January/February 2019 (#155)

screenshots
courtesy ian harnarine
“I’m asking the audience
to fill in some blanks”
A sad irony underpins the short film Caroni. Its protagonist,
a domestic worker in New York City named Rajni, gives
care and affection to her employers’ baby, yet is unable to
provide the same for her own daughter in her native Trinidad.
They chat via messaging service — though we never see
Rajni speak; we only hear her voice — but technology can’t
assuage the longing for togetherness. As her daughter’s
obsession with the brilliantly plumed scarlet ibis in the
nearby Caroni Swamp makes her dress up as one, Rajni
herself begins a wondrous transformation to take her home.
Following his acclaimed short Doubles with Slight
Pepper, New York–residing, Toronto-born, Trinidaddescended
filmmaker Ian Harnarine returns with another
touching and accomplished exploration of the impact of
economic migration on family relationships. He speaks with
Jonathan Ali about nannies, tassa drumming, and asking
audiences to make an imaginative leap.
Where did the idea for Caroni come
from?
One of the first things that struck me
when I moved to New York City was all
of the strollers filled with white babies
that were pushed by black and brown
women. And in talking with many New
Yorkers, when you tell them you’re West
Indian, they will immediately say: “Oh!
Our nanny is from Trinidad” or “Oh! My
nanny was Guyanese.”
Doubles with Slight Pepper is realist in
style, while Caroni contains elements
of the fantastical. Why the shift?
This production started as a scientific
approach to the mythical chimera
animal. It was always meant to be more
experimental than my usual work. I’m
asking the audience to fill in some
blanks because not everything is spelled
out. Trying to keep the audience’s
attention while not frustrating them
was a balance we were trying to achieve.
Radha Singh as the mother gives a
moving performance. How did you
cast her?
We were very lucky to find Radha! Trying
to cast Indo-Caribbean actors in New
York is hard — the traditional casting
resources are still a bit exclusionary and
lacking in real diversity. Radha came to
audition for us via a [theatre] troupe,
and she immediately “got it.” She’s
Guyanese-American. She worked hard
to get the Trinidadian accent right, but
also did the work to understand the
world of nannies in New York.
What was it like working with Arianna
Ruben — the daughter — in Trinidad?
Working with Arianna was a dream come
true. I did a project for Sesame Street
where we filmed some pineapple farmers
in Trinidad. One of the contacts I made
through that project had young kids, and
I thought he would know some girls that
could do the job. During a pre-production
trip, we held a small audition for girls, and
Arianna really stole the show! She’s wise
beyond her years and really understood
what we were going for.
A striking aspect of the film is that
we never see mother and daughter in
the same scene.
We wanted to create as much disconnect
as possible between mother and
daughter, so we never wanted to show
them talking together. In fact, even on
set, the actors never worked together.
We filmed Arianna’s portion and put it on
the cell phone for Radha to play off of.
It’s a testament to the actors to work in
such an unorthodox way and still pull off
compelling performances.
Another memorable element is the
use of tassa drumming in the score.
I really love tassa drumming. It’s primarily
used in Indo-Caribbean culture during
celebratory events like weddings. I
thought it would be interesting to place
that same music in a different context
than it’s usually used, and I thought the
results were powerful.
Having made several well-received
shorts now, are you looking to step
up to features?
Yes! We’re very close to getting the
green light for the Doubles with Slight
Pepper feature film. I am also currently
working on the adaptation of David
Chariandy’s novel Soucouyant, about a
Trinidadian-Canadian family in Toronto.
And I’m still fascinated with the nannies
in New York City, so I’m beginning to
think about longer-form stories within
the same world.
Caroni
Director: Ian Harnarine
T&T/USA/Canada, 2018
8 minutes
50
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