Captureland: A Measured Meditation
“Carry we go home, Carry we go home. And bring we gone a east. Cause man a rasta man. And rasta nuh live pon no capture land.” — Chronixx
Nabil Elderkin’s short film, inspired by the words of Nelson Mandela and the song “Capture Land” by Chronixx, is a powerful short film that leaves the heart soaring.
Although the story’ pace is ambulatory and meditative, almost feeling disjointed and nonchalant, it perfectly condenses the story. By the end, Tocky’s tale of leadership, limitless imagination, committed madnesss and beautiful purpose, pulls together the disparate threads beautifully.
Captureland was shot in early November 2014 in the historic community of Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica. Elderkin’s previous work consists of music videos and promotional work, so Captureland is a marked departure from his previous work.
Inspired by the narrative in Chronixx’s “Capture Land”, a hard hitting indictment and call to pilgrimage echoing Jamaica’s birth of the ‘Back to Africa’ movement Garvey made famous, Elderkin’s Captureland was created as part of the ‘Power of Words’ series.
The ‘Power of Words’ initiative used the legacy of influential men and women, such as Nelson Mandela, to galvanise filmmakers to shape narratives around the words of these figures.
Elderkin, introduced to the song by Chronixx while in Jamaica working on another project, used the narrative of Chronixx’s song to create the backbone of this story of Tocky and his Rastafari bredren.
Eschewing violence and the typical violence we see depicted on the screen out of Jamaica, despite the hints throughout the film that resolved themselves into purpose and meaning, the film’s uplifting fable impresses without eye popping visuals or taut scenes between criminals and still remains a thrilling story.
Watch it… and comment below.
Related
http://www.sunheadmag.com/2015/11/video-chronixx-capture-land-jamaica-tour/
http://www.sunheadmag.com/2014/04/video-3-chronixx-capture-land/
Originally published at www.sunheadmag.com on November 17, 2015.
