Priscilla Hintz Rivera recently announced the upcoming screening—on Saturday, March 25, 2023—of A Blue Estate, a first short feature film directed by St. Johnian multidisciplinary performer and writer Savannah Lyons Anthony. The premiere screening at Bajo El Sol Gallery will begin at 7:00pm, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and cast. Bajo El Sol Gallery is located at Mongoose Junction, Cruz Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

The movie, filmed on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is Lyons Anthony’s debut film. [. . .] “The film centers around two estranged Virgin Islands brothers who meet to discuss their inheritance. Conflict ensues as they decide what’s worth fighting for,” said Lyons Anthony. The two lead actors, Isaac Peters and Jalani Phillips Jr. are both attending the University of the Virgin Islands.

Savannah Lyons Anthony was born and raised on St. John before earning a BA in Choreographic Forms from Bard College. She now resides primarily in Harlem, New York and makes work within the spaces of theater, dance and film.

When asked what motivated her to create the film, Lyons Anthony replied, “I’m enamored by Caribbean storytelling and the magic of fables. The conversation regarding land rights and ownership isn’t unique to St. John but St. Johnians and Virgin Islanders have a unique relationship to their land. I wanted to highlight that experience and memorialize this moment in a form that is very familiar to us: a story. This story came to me after I spent a year thinking about the blue tarp and what it symbolized for us in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria. This object felt ripe with metaphor. In its utility and the shelter it provides in the face of disaster, it symbolized home; how overpowering a sense of “home” can be in our lives, yet how fickle the home can be. Maybe when we step back from ourselves and listen to a story then we can see what’s really happening, learn something about each other, and think differently about possibilities for ourselves and our home.”

The film’s Director of Photography, Christopher Currence, is a Brooklyn based filmmaker and photographer, born in Macon, Georgia, raised in Atlanta and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lili Dekker, the film’s editor is a New York based artist originally from Hong Kong. She has worked in post-production at HBO Documentary and currently assistant edits on nature documentaries for PBS. She also co-runs the performance space PAGEANT in Brooklyn. She received a BA from New York University in Documentary Media Theory and Practice.

For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162880128384966&set=a.10150483925634966