Ernest Dickerson’s Double Play To Premiere At International Film Festival Rotterdam Posted by Wilson Morales
December 12, 2016
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will present the festival world premiere of Double Play with the cast and crew in attendance. American filmmaker Ernest Dickerson (Juice, The Wire) directed the film version of the internationally lauded novel Double Play by Curaçaoan author Frank Martinus Arion. The film stars Lennie James (The Walking Dead), Colin Salmon (London Has Fallen), Alexander Karim (Zero Dark Thirty) Isaach De Bankolé (Casino Royale) and Mustafa Shakir (Quarry, HBO’s The Night Of), Academy Award and Emmy winner Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman, Roots), Melanie Liburd (Game of Thrones), Saycon Sengbloh (Tony Nominee for “Eclipsed”), Bronson Pinchot (True Romance) and newcomer Dani Dare (NCIS New Orleans). Jay Wadley (Indignation ) composed the score. The film also includes a stellar performance of classic songs performed by Aymee Nuviola (Celia).
Based on Frank Martinus Arion’s internationally acclaimed novel of the same name, considered to be Arion’s magnum opus, the film is set on the Caribbean island of Curacao. The screenplay was written by Evan Jones and Alaric Alexander Smeets. Lisa Cortés and Gregory Elias produced. Says Cortés, “It was a great privilege to work with an incredible international cast and crew to bring this classic novel to the screen. It’s now especially important to tell inspiring stories that uncover unique and diverse voices that speak to following one’s dreams even amidst the most challenging of circumstances.”
Producer Gregory Elias adds: “We are very happy to launch Double Play onto the global stage at IFFR, a place that feels as much home as it feels international. We hope the themes of the film and of the Curacao society will strike a chord with the Rotterdam and international audiences.”
“With Double Play, Ernest Dickerson has portrayed an idiosyncratic, joyous and humane society thereby not only creating a terrifically enjoyable film, but also a welcome reminder that Curaçao is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He underlines the fact that we perhaps have much more in common than the Atlantic between us might suggest,” says festival director Bero Beyer.
Set in 1973 and 2010, Double Play is the story of Ostrik (Salmon)’s return to his childhood home, and the memory of a fateful day more than 40 years prior. Over the course of that day, and a long-standing game of dominoes, the fates of four men (James, Karim, De Bankolé, and Shakir) are revealed through a journey of love, loss and deadly betrayal. Shot on location in Curacao, the film utilized its surroundings by emphasizing the beauty of the landscape, the music and the people.
Filmmaker Ernest Dickerson rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s as Spike Lee’s favourite cameraman. They debuted together whilst still at art school with Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983) and were responsible for classics including Do the Right Thing (1989) and Malcolm X (1992). Dickerson himself directed the films Juice and Bulletproof as well as episodes of renowned series such as The Wire, The Walking Dead, Treme and Dexter. Lisa Cortés, the producer of the highly acclaimed Precious, produced Double Play in cooperation with Gregory Elias, the producer of both the Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival.
Lisa Cortés is known for her work on Precious, The Woodsman, and Shadowboxer. Gregory Elias, producer of the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival and Curacao International Film Festival Rotterdam is financing through his Foundation, “Fundashon Bon Intenshon (https://www.fundashonbonintenshon.org)
