“The Price of Memory”– Jamaica’s First Documentary About Slavery Reparations

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Film Premieres in New York City on December 7th

“The Price of Memory” a documentary feature film about slavery reparations in Jamaica will have its New York premiere on Sunday, December 7 at 2pm at the African Diaspora International Film Festival.

The film was recently nominated for Best Documentary Feature Award at Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival 2014. Filmed over a decade, it follows a group of Rastafari who petitioned Queen Elizabeth II for slavery reparations on her last visit to Jamaica, and a lawsuit for slavery reparations filed against the Queen.

It also recounts the story of earlier Rastas who pursued reparations in the 1960s and an official mission to Africa to organize repatriation.  This film interweaves the impact of the legacy of slavery on independent Jamaica. The filmmaker traveled across England exploring its legacy of slavery, as well as the British Royal Family’s history of slavery. We see the debate about reparations reach both the UK and Jamaican parliaments.

“The Price of Memory” features appearances by Queen Elizabeth II, Ras Lion, attorney Michael Lorne, reparations advocate Barbara Blake Hannah, as well as Rastafari elders Sam Clayton, Filmore Alvaranga, O.D. and Douglas Mack.

The film, which was an official selection of Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, was recently screened for Glasgow City Council in Scotland. The New York Premiere on Sunday, December 7 will be at Cowin Center, Teacher’s College, Columbia University at 2pm. Another screening will follow on December 10 at 7:20pm at Quad Cinema in New York City.

 

Karen Marks Mafundikwa is a Jamaican filmmaker and the director/producer of The Price of Memory. Previously, she produced and co-wrote documentary feature film Shungu: The Resilience of a People, following ordinary people in Zimbabwe during economic crisis and political stalemate.

Shungu has screened on three continents including IDFA and BFI London Film Festival; winner of Ousmane Sembene Award at Zanzibar Film Festival and Best Documentary, Kenya International Film Festival 2010. It has been broadcast internationally. She resides in Jamaica where she is currently producing a documentary feature on Jamaica at the crossroads with the legalization of marijuana and the medical marijuana industry.

 

 

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