Before starting my career in journalism a few years ago, when my child was born, I was a filmmaker. I needed a career that would allow me to dedicate time to her, so I put filmmaking on hold to establish myself as a journalist. As the mother of a small child, my priority was raising her and ensuring her education.

This summer, I began editing footage from a documentary I shot years ago while filming a short fiction project in Harbour Island, The Bahamas. It was a passion project that I was working on in my spare time, dedicating many hours to it. So much so that my child became curious about the filmmaking process and even learned some of the lines the characters said as she listened to me edit.

At the time, I had no clear direction for this project and felt uncertain about its future. Filmmaking as an indie artist is not for the faint-hearted; you can pour your soul and money into a project only for it to fail or go unrewarded. However, as I edited, I fell in love with the footage, the content, and the characters. I knew the film was special. My main goal was to have the film shown in The Bahamas, where it was shot, and if not, I would release it on YouTube.

This is a behind the scenes picture of Mama Jacqueline from Harbour Island, and myself.

I dedicated a lot of time to it, even handling the sound design and some animation—truly a labor of love. Then, one morning, as I prepared breakfast for my child before school, I opened my emails and found the message that made it all worthwhile: my film , “Harbour Island: Wisdom Keepers” was one of the films officially selected for the prestigious The Bahamas International Film Festival. It set to premiere there this November, and it will include one screening at Harbour Island, its birth place .

Behind the scenes of “Harbour Island: Wisdom keepers”. Amancay Tapia, Rosita Roberts and Carl Higgs

For me, this represents a new beginning as a filmmaker. It’s a prestigious festival, and I believe the film has the potential to be showcased at other notable festivals now that the season has begun. I’m feeling hopeful. Please note that the film won’t be available online for at least a year, as it must travel to film festivals first. Many festivals require a world premiere, international premiere, or national premiere, and being part of such festivals adds prestige to a project like mine but, I have a trailer and an instagram page for this film and other future projects. Enjoy !

You can Follow our instagram page here https://www.instagram.com/hersoulframes/

https://www.bintlfilmfest.com/the_festival/film_description/1340