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‘Sprinter’, the movie doing away with stereotypes about Jamaicans

It will be released in the United Kingdom, next month.
'Sprinter' is a movie which strives to debunk the stereotypical storylines of guns and gangsters, commonly used to describe Jamaica. It’s about the story of Akeem Sharp, a young Rastafarian running for his family and his future. The film is about to hit the silver screen here in the United Kingdom, next month. BBC Newsday caught up with Hollywood-based Jamaican producer Rob Maylor and the film's director Storm Saulter to chat about their work.

(Picture: Akeem Races at St Lazarus in Jamaica. Credit: Kush Films)

£20,000 budget cut made Bait film better says director

Jonathan Morris

BBC News Online

Acclaimed Cornwall film-maker Mark Jenkin has revealed how losing £20,000 from the budget of his movie Bait "helped the creative success of the film".

Mark Jenkin
BBC

Mr Jenkin said producers told him before filming that the promised money from a backer had been withdrawn.

He said the limitations meant crucial changes, including using one instead of two fishing boats.

"I had to rewrite it but then I got an idea for a bass net on the beach which turned into a really strong iconic part of the film - that he's a fisherman who hasn't even got a boat.

"If I hadn't lost that money I would never have thought of that.

"And if you spray everything clean with a money hose it can look like everything else."

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The film, partly about tensions between tourists and locals in a small fishing port, was shot on 16mm film and processed by hand, and has been praised by critics including Empire magazine which called it a "timeless work of art".

Mr Jenkin, who directed and edited Bait, was speaking at a preview of the film at the Exeter Picturehouse before it goes on nationwide release on 30 August.

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