CAMILLE SELVON ABRAHAMS
AWARD-WINNING ANIMATOR
By Rubadiri Victor
Sunday Express Section 2
November 25, 2001
Page 3
A local animator who made an award winning short film in Britain has returned home to set up shop, train young animators and stage a historic Caribbean Animation Festival next year.
Camille Selvon Abrahams won the Royal Television Society Award for her film Master Peace in 1999. it was the best graduate feature for all British universities. Camille is now back home - with husband and three children in tow - to base her four-year-old company Full Circle Productions and embark on creative adventure.
"Animation is a $25 billion global industry which has grown 20 percent in the last few years. England and America are craving Caribbean product. There are dozens of incredibly talented young animators out here; I've come to give something back," she says passionately.
Camille grew up in a huge family in La Seiva Village, Maracas Valley. She had 14 aunts and uncles, many cousins, and two brothers and three sisters. She attended Maracas RC Village School and went on to St Joseph Convent, St Joseph. She was never far from home and village life. Both formed an important part of her psyche and have found their way into her art. Her animation ideas are all village-centred and folk-driven.
Her artistic bent showed early. She was one of the founding members of the young revolutionary clothing company The Cloth. She was the fabric designer. After she left, she did stints as a graphic artist with Rostant Advertising and Corbin Compton.
The turning point came when she met her British husband-to-be, Carl Abrahams, at Piarco Airport while collecting her aunt. By 1993 she was off to Goldsmiths in London. She did her Bachelor of Arts in Communication with special interest in animation. She graduated first in that discipline.
"The university experience opened my eyes tremendously. I was a mature student so was able to balance student and teacher views. I also, significantly, was from the Caribbean - I had a unique insight on colonization and its effects on societies. I studied CLR James. By my last year I was disillusioned with the university system. It was forcing people to be 'universal' and I am an individual. A lot of black students had this problem. In fact, I did Master Peace as my final-year project in a way because I was pushed to answer the system of thought surrounding me."
The award-winning Master Peace is a four-minute animated short fable in which the people of the ice worshipper planet start to believe that their god is greater than all others and begin to destroy other planets. Finally they attempt to destroy one planet and find that it is their god itself that they have been trying to murder. Camille finished the show when she was nine months pregnant. She had her child and film at the same time. She missed her graduation and instead had her daughter Asé.
In the film, Camille uses all forms of animation - two-dimensional illustrations, computer-enhanced live action, as well as computer-generated images. The Trini voice-over which has wowed audiences the world over was provided by Glen Amedee, her cousin's husband. She was supported by her husband throughout.
The cartoon began to open up doors to her. Apart from winning the Royal Award, it has been shown in many international film festivals like the Hiroshima Animation Festival, also in Holland, France, Canada and at the Miami Webfest. At the Women in Animation Festival in London at Trafalgar Square, she was the only black and Caribbean filmmaker. She constantly receives calls to screen the show.
One important connection made was with Miami-based Axé Multimedia who own BlackFlixx.com. While showing at the London Black Film Festival, Menelik Shabazz, one of Britain's premier black directors, put her on to the company. The result has been a business relationship and a compilation video featuring Master Peace and other experimental work by Britain's top young upcoming black filmmakers.
Puppets and animation can say politically challenging things humans can't, but all the same, Master Peace is revolutionary in its challenges. "When the film shows in London, the response is strong but they take it in. it is a fine line to walk to not turn off your audience. You have to come good. Get your technique down," says husband Brian.
Now Camille is back in St Joseph. She has set up studio and is opening for business. The premises at 2 Abercromby Street, St Joseph, feature a training room for young animators, an office and studio and two rooms for rent she prefers to let to creative businesses. She will be doing animation for commercials, corporate sites and show windows, website design and a range of multimedia services.
"The business is also to create a platform for young people to be the best they can be. I see myself as an example for young teenage mothers - you can still get your education and fulfill your dreams. If I can do it, anyone can," says a buoyant Camille.
The big dream now is the planned Caribbean Animation and New Media Festival for July 2002. "This is a shout-out to all animators of all races, colours and creeds. The fest will be open to anything - from 30-sec shorts to 30-minute pieces. It will be open to the entire Caribbean diaspora and will not just be confined to animation; it will be open to all new media."
The event will be media launched in early December.
So far Camille has made contact with American companies who are all interested - such as Macromedia, MediaSoft, SoftImage, and the Black Film and Video Network.
One of her prospective partners calls Trinidad a "hotspot for media acquisition for cable and Satellite Broadcast" and is optimistic about the future for Caribbean animation and media productions - if local business gets its act together. Camille is currently talking to numerous local companies to take part in the venture.
"Business people in this country do not have a clue about the new technologies, especially banking and telecommunications companies, ironically. They are not alive to the possibilities. They believe that you have to be in America to sell to America. The sky is not the limit; it goes beyond that," says husband Carl, who worked for British Telecom as an engineer during the day and studied computer and business information systems at night at the University of Greenwich while Camille was going to university.
Camille is excited about the move back home and the festival whose end product will be a compilation video that will be shopped internationally.
BlackFlixx.com will host the shorts on their site and also shop it online. Camille plans to set up an initial meeting with local animators and interested participants. She can be contacted at fullcircle93@hotmail.com or by phone at 662-0963. Americans can reach Adrian at BlackFlixx@yahoo.com.