to Guyana’ short film screened in Italy

By Faith Greene

THE participants of a Guyana Film Festival workshop have proved that Guyanese are talented and have the potential to prosper in any part of the world.

With the assistance of British actor and filmmaker, Craig Talbot, who has been conducting a series of acting workshops in Guyana, the short film “Welcome to Guyana” was created.

“In a collaborative effort with Craig Talbot of Rollick Films in the UK and the Georgetown Film Festival, participants of one of our filmmaking series workshops created this film entirely with just minutes of rehearsal, and now it’s being screened in Italy in the Ivrea Film Screening! Love how the Georgetown Film Festival pushes local Guyanese talent to every part of the globe!” a post on the Guyana Film Festival Facebook page said. The film was screened sometime last month.

The Buzz recently had the opportunity to interview Talbot whose father is British-born but has Jamaican and Guyanese parentage. His mother is Jamaican.

Over the years, Talbot has made quite a name for himself in the film industry. Talbot under Rollick Films has produced films such as Montague (2017), Dead Drop (2019), The Psychic Medium (2020), and his most recent film, Twenty Quid Change (2022).

He recalled that filmmaking was a childhood dream. He began to take acting seriously when he was about 13 years old and from then he has not looked back.

According to him, it was from that tender age that he knew he wanted to act in films as this would take him

Craig Talbot

to many parts of the world. He has travelled to countries in Asia, America, Africa and the Caribbean.

“The older I’ve gotten, the more fire and passion is growing there. So it’s quite nice because it feels like I’m still living my childhood dream, which is great,” he said.

Talbot was born in the United Kingdom and his first visit to Guyana was in October, 2022, when he hosted an acting workshop at the Theatre Guild in Kingston.

The participants of the workshop, in collaboration with the British filmmaker and the Georgetown Film Festival, created the short film “Welcome to Guyana” which was directed by both Talbot and Guyanese filmmaker and director, Rae Wiltshire.

In talking about some of his challenges, the ‘Songs of Solitude’ filmmaker said that finding the right location, resources (camera equipment), and right amount of finances are the biggest trials any filmmaker would face..

“People are easy. You can network. You can find… Caribbean creatives and black creatives, but when it comes to resources and money, those are always the big challenges,” he noted. Furthermore, he emphasised that making films have been extremely beneficial to him, since he learns something new each time.

Creating Something Special

Meanwhile, Talbot said that he started Rollick Films two years after he graduated