Arts Thread

Dèyè do bon dié (behind god’s back in Martinican creole) means that something is so far away that even God, despite being omniscient, does not see it – or maybe, just doesn’t care. The ominous description could hardly disguise itself as a compliment. Nonetheless, it is said lovingly by an unnamed contributor about the North of Martinique, when he is asked to define and describe the village he calls home. As a former colony turned overseas territory of France, Martinique exhales a unique blend of French and Caribbean cultures. The documentary paints a visceral and textured portrait of the Northern tip of the Caribbean Island of Martinique. A mostly agricultural region, where the deceptively simple lifestyle hides a layered and complex history and identity, one under the direct threat of a reawakening volcano since 2020. The experimental documentary, filmed in 9 villages over 20 days, borrows from the musical technique of sampling by re-arranging de-contextualised fragments of conversations, landscapes, and soundscapes to build meaning and impressions between myth and history: a choirmentary. By obsessively asking 50 plus contributors to define both the North and themselves, the director interrogates his own origin. The documentary is born from his need to anchor himself back to a region he left when he was 15. A need which manifested itself as the movie was imagined, filmed, and edited while he was preparing for the arrival of his first-born, a little Northerner.