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 FELIX DE
ROOY,
Curacao
:: Ava and Gabriel ::
“I
see myself as a colonial orgasm, as something
that comes from two different cultures...”
Felix De Rooy,
who currently lives in Amsterdam, was educated at the Free Academy
of Psychopolis in The Hague, Netherlands and received a Master of
Arts in Film Directing from New York University (1982). At present,
he is both a visual artist and theater and film director. He has won
several film awards, including the "Golden Calf" in the
Netherlands, the Paul Robeson Prize in Burkina Faso, and the Saul
Yelin Prize in Havana, Cuba. In 2000 he was decorated by the Queen
of the Netherlands for his achievements in the arts. Apart from Ava
and Gabriel, he has directed the award-winning feature films Desirée
and Almacita di Desolato, as well as numerous shorts and
documentaries. He is an artist with a high degree of
consciousness of his Afro-Caribbean identity, forthright views and
the courage to express them. He is very much looking forward to
making his first visit to Barbados and we are honoured to welcome to
our Festival one of the best-known and most creative Caribbean
artists currently at work.
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 AVA
AND GABRIEL: A LOVE STORY - (Rated R)
Country:
Curacao/Holland
Year:
1990
Length: 100 minutes,
Language: Dutch and Papamientu with
English subtitles,
Genre: Drama
 The
story takes place on the island of Curacao in the late Forties. Upon
request of Father Fidelius, parish priest of St. Anna's, the Surinam
painter Gabriel Goedbloed arrives from Holland to paint a mural of
the Virgin Mary in St. Anna's Church. The drama unfolds from
different angles. First the clergy and locals are confused by the
fact that the painter is black, originating from Surinam, but
resettled in The Hague, where he received a Fine Art education.
The close-knit
Antillean society did not welcome strangers who refused to conform
to their colonial way of life in those days. Further complications
arise when he chooses a young teacher, Miss Ava Recordina, who is of
mixed origin, to be his model for the painting of the Virgin Mary.
Ava is engaged to the white police major Carlos Zarius who is not
too happy with his fiancé posing for the painter.
The
fact that the Dutch Governor's wife, Louise van Hansschot, is
interested in Gabriel also fuels the tension. In the end, Gabriel
Goedbloed falls victim to the controversies, hypocrisies and
intrigues that have arisen around his person and his paintings.
Jury
Prize, Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Havana,
Cuba, 1990.
Synopsis
reproduced from: http://www.africanfilm.com
- visit this site for info. and ordering of films from Africa and
the Diaspora.
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