Talk of Trinidad
with The Humming Bird
The movie ?What my mother told me" is unique in that it is one of the few works produced by a Trinidadian woman about the paradoxes and survival strategies of Caribbean women.
Written and produced by Frances-Ann Soloman, the movie features a two-woman cast comprising well known Jamaican actress Leonie Forbes, who plays the part of Miss Kathryn, an apparently eccentric mother who lives by herself on Basper Grande, and British actress Adjoa Andoh, who plays the part of Miss Kathryn's daughter, Jesse.
Frances-Ann Soloman studied theatre at the University of Toronto from 1978 to 1982 before focusing on film making at Le Coq theatre school in France. She has worked as a video maker in Paris and with Banyan Productions in Trinidad.
Soloman is currently a Development Editor for the BBC and runs her own small film company called Leda Serene, founded in 1987. She has worked with Darcus Howe on various documentaries, and produced a video called ?I is a long memoried woman" in 1990. She has also produced a documentary-drama called ?Reunion."
Leonie Forbes is a very familiar face in Jamaica, where she has starred in many theatrical productions over the years and is frequently seen on JBC in made-for-TV dramas (and even the occasional advirtisement). She has worked with Soloman before on the movie ?I is a long memoried woman" and will be involved in a pilot for a new Jamaican sitcom very soon.
Forbes is also involved in the UNESCO funded World Theatre Project, which comprises a team of German and other actors who visit various countries and involve local actors there in writing and enacting a production drawn from, and unique to, that area.
Adjoa Andoh is a British actress who began her acting career in 1984 in London theatre.
