Guadeloupe in the movies
Christian Lara, who died in 2023, was considered the founding father of West Indian cinema, drawing his inspiration from local culture. In 1978, he directed Coco la Fleur, candidat, the first feature-length fiction film produced in Guadeloupe, the West Indies and the Caribbean. His aim was to tell the story of the West Indies, shoot on his native island and feature West Indian actors. Actors such as Greg Germain, Jacques Martial and Pascal Legitimus have enjoyed success beyond the Caribbean. On the island, a young, vibrant film scene has become professionalized, as evidenced by the International Caribbean Film and Television Market (in January) and the Bureau d'accueil des tournages de la région, set up by the regional council. The next generation of filmmakers is assured, with several young directors making their mark on the film market in recent years. These include Anne-Sophie Nanki, whose Ici s'achève le monde connu won the prize for best fiction short film at the Cannes 2022 Pan-African Film Festival. Julien Silloray was also shortlisted at the Césars in the short film category for Mortenol, shot on the streets of Pointe-à-Pitre. Or Nelson Foix and his striking short Ti moun Aw.
Guadeloupe attracts a wide variety of productions, as much for its scenic beauty as for its talent and know-how. Scenes from the film Rien ne va plus (1977) were shot in Guadeloupe, as were Emmanuelle 4 (1984), Speed 2: Cap sur le danger (1997), Antilles sur Seine (2001) and La Smala s'en mêle (2013). More recently, Guillaume Nicloux's Dans la peau de Blanche Houellebecq, starring Blanche Gardin and Michel Houellebecq, released in March 2024, was largely shot in the archipelago. As for typically Guadeloupean productions, after Jean-Claude Barny's Nèg Maron, Mariette Monpierre's Le bonheur d'Elza (released in 2011) aptly describes social realities. Nèg Maron takes us into the world of young people from a working-class neighborhood who have broken away from the social system. In Le bonheur d'Elza (Elza's Happiness), viewers follow the quest for identity of a 20-year-old girl, freshly graduated and living in France, who tells her mother and sister that she has decided to travel to Guadeloupe, an island she doesn't know, to find her father, who abandoned them.
Events and small screen
In terms of events, every year the West Indian filmmaking community showcases its latest creations at the well-attended Festival régional et international du cinéma de Guadeloupe (FEMI). This eagerly-awaited event showcases Creole culture in international cinema. Also of note is Le Mois du film documentaire de Guadeloupe (Guadeloupe Documentary Film Month), which in 2019 moves to the town of Le Gosier, at the Raoul Georges Nicolo media library. The aim of this event is to highlight documentary works that are little known to the general public. On the small screen, there's the hit series Meurtres au paradis, shot entirely in Guadeloupe, mainly in the town of Deshaies. This co-production between the BBC and France Télévisions follows the adventures of a police team (whose cast evolves over the seasons) on the fictional Caribbean island of Sainte-Marie. Season 14 is scheduled for broadcast in 2025.
