When two minds think alike, the outcome–most times–turns out to be a good one. When Dr Kim Johnson hosted his exhibition on pan four years ago, he ended the presentation with a 13-minute film.
The film was well received, he said, and he felt encouraged to do a full length one. Enter Jean Michel Gibert of Maturity Productions who also wanted to do a film about pan.
At a Carnival screening of Johnson's short film and Gibert's full-length documentary on the legendary Calypso Rose, the conversation between the two men went along these lines:
Johnson: "If I want to do a film on pan, it has to be at the level of Cannes."
Gibert: "I know who to talk to."
Johnson knew a film at Cannes was far off. Yet by calling the name of the international film festival, he had in essence, vocalised the quality and prestige he wanted for his film. Gibert, by expressing a similar desire to do a film on pan, saw a story of cinematic vision.
Pan! Our Music Odyssey is a semi-fictional piece that revolves around the history of pan. The film presents the invention pan in the 1940s, and fast forwards to the present day Panorama competition, telling the stories of people from T&T, France, Japan, the USA–who have invested yet sacrificed everything for their love of the instrument.
Producing a documentary, Johnson said, would have been so complex that it would have meant presenting different people and subsequently reducing the film to one person's perspective. Writing fiction allowed him to add some of pan's history without having to sacrifice.
"This was more of an organic process," Johnson said. "We had meetings with various stakeholders. We were looking at practical considerations. If we did a historical film, we would have to recreate a scene and we couldn't afford that."
Gibert looked at the production from the interworking of fact and fiction. The end result was a strong narrative that worked.
"This is a unique cinematic approach to telling the pan story. Putting contemporary characters to link the story is extremely convincing," said Gibert.
The team for the film included the award-winning French producer Barth�l�my Fougea, himself a pan lover, who mentored Johnson and Gibert on how to do an international production. He too suggested a film about pan required more emotion, particularly if the film is a commercial venture.
Gibert described the film as an "extraordinary human adventure" in which street boys overcome the violence through music; where redemption is discovered; and our multicultural society is reflected.
After three years of writing, the final outtake took place at a Toco retreat where the three producers (Belgium-born filmmaker J�r�me Guiot was the third producer), one director and the writer went through the script line by line. Certain parts of the script were discussed, the weak elements reviewed and strengthened to suit.
But that was not the end of the rewrites. It continued up until a scene was shot. When Che Rodriguez (local actor who is also known for his documentaries) was being prepped for one of the scenes, he made suggestions about the character, Johnson said.
In September, Pan! will make its local debut, headlining the 14th T&T Film Festival. But it has already made traction at La Rochelle, France at Sunny Side of the Doc festival that took place in June. That event was an important one, said Gibert, because of the 3,000 participants only 500 programmes are selected for state-owned France television. The French 80-minute version of Pan! was screened on the closing night.
"There was a standing ovation at the end of the movie," said Gibert. "People were asking, 'Where we would see it?' It was a great success. There is a buzz in the professional market."
The primary key, Gibert said, is to broadcast in time for Carnival. He would like to have the English version of the film streamed for Panorama. "We would even consider selling it to Netflix...we plan to go to many film festivals with it," he said.
The challenge for the film, however, was neither the actual filming nor the varied edited versions of the script. Gibert and Johnson agreed that the financing aspect of the film was more intense than the nine months of film production. The film collected US$14,000 for its completion on the popular crowd-funding site Indiegogo.
Looking at the overall industry here, one thing Johnson noted was the lack of connections. "The film world is difficult to break in if you are unknown. Marketing starts from the get go. This was our baby step," he said. Yet, he pointed out, the film industry is going through tremendous changes, particularly the technology which made it possible to do Pan! In addition to which, he said, the Hollywood hegemony is crumbling, allowing a little wiggle room for independent productions.
The next step, in addition to the festivals, is work on a 52-minute TV format that presents a series of pan stories. Already in the works is a sequel. Pan! An African Odyssey will be finished soon. "This time in Nigeria. There was also enthusiasm in South Africa for the Steelband/Marimba festival," Johnson said.
There might be a third, since an Indian small-screen film production company is interested in one of the characters in Pan! and would like him to come to India and meet with Indian musicians.
"Jean Michel's last film, Calypso Rose: the Lioness of the Jungle, was shown on PBS. After, she was the most sought-after artiste from T&T. It is remarkable that she is travelling to non-Diaspora markets. That effect we hope to amplify for T&T culture and pan," Johnson said.
As for the actual documentary, will it ever be produced? Johnson said he still has hopes for the History Channel.