The West Indies at War is a four-part television series that tells the little known story of soldiers from the West Indies who fought and died in World War I.
Many of these valiant men were not allowed to enlist because of their race. After months of struggle and with a steadily rising death toll on battlefields across the world, the men of the Caribbean were finally allowed into the fray.
The West Indies at War was produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Mariel Brown who said she was driven to produce this television series as when the World War I centenary celebrations began there was a noticeable absence of historical accounts on the involvement of the West Indies and its people.
"My aim is to elucidate our West Indian stories as told by ourselves," added Brown.
She explained that during the war, the men experienced discrimination at the hands of their white counterparts and were forced into menial labour roles. Said Brown: "Upon their return to the Caribbean, the embittered soldiers, led by Arthur Cipriani, Uriah Butler and Norman Manley, banded together and rallied the masses against their colonial oppressors for the right to vote and appoint local men onto the Legislative Council. The First World War shook everything up."
Brown continued: "Initially, black people from the Caribbean were not even allowed to enlist in a regiment because the thinking was that it would be dangerous to teach them how to fire weapons. The War Office in England was concerned that once trained, black soldiers could pick up arms against the British colonials in the region and rebel."
This is not Brown's initial foray into a historical documentary of this kind. Her documentary, Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams, won the 2011 prize for Best Local Feature Film at the T&T Film Festival. The story is told through rare archival footage and photographs, woven together with interviews from leading Caribbean historians, journalists and writers, including professors Brinsley Samaroo and Bridget Brereton, journalist Judy Raymond and award-winning writers Oliver Senior and Lawrence Scott. The series also features a moving original music score by T&T composer, Francesco Emmanuel.
Born in England but raised in Trinidad, as a child Brown's dreams included becoming an ice skater (yes, in Trinidad) or an architect. "I grew up with a mom who was an interior designer, and a dad who was a writer. I was not good at Math or Physics so following in mom's career path was out. When one grows with creative people who have deep interest and curiosity in the Caribbean it rubs off on a young person.
"So, when I got my first job at Trinidad & Tobago Television (TTT) as a reporter I realised that I wanted to be able to tell stories of my people. People wanted to have their stories told. The more involved I got in television the more I realised how marginalised we were in our own local broadcast milieu. Working with Tony Fraser at TTT was just a gift. He was a fantastic mentor and he gave me the room to grow."
At TTT, Brown got the opportunity to do documentaries which were more driven by human interest as opposed to news. Brown said: "We were allowed by Tony to produce 15-20-minute programmes which gave me the chance to explore a subject in depth, and to be more creative. My first entry into independent production came with Sancoche, a 30-minute cooking and lifestyle aired on Gayelle and TV 6. Subsequently it was aired across the Caribbean. Sancoche ran for six seasons, totalling almost 100 episodes.
"Sancoche made me understand fund-raising, working with an independent crew and how a producer follows through on a vision. While I was doing Sancoche I also did Making Mas with Brian Mac Farlane in 2006. That was an exciting time for me as it marked my entry into the world independent documentary film-making."
Brown stopped doing Sancoche in 2008 and began focussing entirely on making documentaries. Following Making Mas with Brian Mac Farlane, a six-part TV series, she went on to do The Insatiable Season, The Solitary Alchemist, Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams, and the short film Smallman: The World My Father Made.
Created and produced by Savant Films, The West Indies at War was commissioned by the Parliament Channel. Brown's relation with The Parliament Channel began in 2013 when she was commissioned to do a ten-part documentary series titled Within These Walls. "That series looked at some of the most iconic buildings in Trinidad," said Brown, "like the Red House, Whitehall, President's House and Knowsley Building. It integrated my interest in architecture, history and the Caribbean. It was like dream job.
"I think The Parliament Channel was happy with it and my producer went for the notion of doing West Indies at War when I pitched the idea for it to her. She really went to bat for this series to be made. It was signed off by the Clerk of the House."
The West Indies at War appropriately premieres on Memorial Day (November 11) at 8pm, on The Parliament Channel (Channel 11 on Flow).
For more information visit The Parliament Channel website at www.ttparliament.org
