Wilfred Quamina-Student, Ken Gordon School of Journalism and Communication Studies

Sugars is a poor girl who appears to be the bread winner of her family. She does housekeeping in what seems to be a guest house or institution. The director leaves us to guess at this. She has learnt from her mother’s experience and she is ambitious and diligent.

Sugars, despite the instant gratification that her name suggests, has learnt to defer present satisfaction for future benefit. On this day she arrives at her job and learns two things about a friend/colleague at work – one, that she was fired, and, two, she was secretly involved in a threesome with guests. The two revelations are not necessarily related. This morning too, she realizes that money she was saving for her registration at a school was taken by her mother who is a recovering addict, so she arrives at work disappointed and angry.

The plot is simple. To do or not to do.
Sugars perceives herself as a morally upstanding person but circumstances and opportunity have conspired to test her virtue. The film gradually builds up to her decision: Does necessity justify immorality? This film, though short passes the “Bechel” gender test. It has a number of female characters, some of who are named, and they speak to each other on topics other than a man. The film is also engaging and creates a sense of expectancy.

There is an overarching morality to this film. Even the musical theme, The German monk Martin Luther’s hymn Ein Fest Berg (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God).
The film is a study in human nature. ‘Human Nature 10I.’ It calls you to the jury seat. Would you consider Sugars weak if she falls, or strong if she stands? Milton in his epic poem “Paradise Lost” has God saying of Adam and Eve “I made them sufficient to have stood, but free to fall.”
Watch the film. Be the jury.

Ryan Nanton-Student, Ken Gordon School of Journalism and Communication Studies

If you suffer from a weak heart or find yourself unable to cope with a tension laden movie, the Jamaican short film, ‘Shoot the Girl,’ is a production that you would probably want to stay away from – far away from. But for the avid filmgoer it would surely stoke your fancies and land itself a spot on your top ten list. From its first second all the way to its last, the 20 minute film takes you on a roller coaster ride, high up to cloud nine.

The momentum never stops as the main characters, a Rastafarian dad and his 10-year-old daughter, Likkle, and a gangster, appropriately called Satan, are involved in a real life hide-and-seek game, where the winner gets the glorious prize of staying alive.

From the onset you are given an all access pass to infamous Trenchtown, Jamaica. In a maze of galvanize fences and densely peopled shacks, Likkle is trained by her father for the inevitable; his death. She canvases the community in ninja style, scoping out secret and vulnerable places alike in hopes of eluding a gruesome demise. Her father is astounded by her adaptability to the game and her abilities. She would, however, be given a rude awakening as what she’d grown to love and know as a game would instantly become her reality.

Before you can blink or finish sneezing, her father is shot at point blank range by Satan, in full view of Likkle and Satan’s two accomplices. Ambiguity is widespread as one wonders what would have inspired such a horrid death to a man who appeared to be model father figure. Nevertheless, Likkle’s skills are tested and she storms through the narrow alleys and tunnels to make good her escape of the gangsters – but she fails.

A play on the word ‘shoot’ is integral to how the story unfolds – you can shoot someone with a gun or with a cell phone. Either way, depending on your aim, both “weapons” have the power to change a life. Everyone is ready to “shoot” Satan. But he remains relentless in his attempts to murder Likkle in like manner as her father. The community “cavalry” rides in, armed with their mobile phone cameras shooting footage of Satan during the entire incident; from Likkle’s sprint across the community, all the way to where she is cornered and where the barrel of Satan’s gun meets her eyes. Interestingly, she would have her cake and eat it too, as revenge and justice – two sides of the same coin – meet Satan at the heart of the community.

The resonating message of “it takes a whole village to raise a child” is conveyed as the community stands behind her. Satan keeps aim at Likkle, but she’s unfazed, seeming to know her fate. Satan has lost, but vows like the real Prince of Darkness of Biblical fame, to kill all who stood in his way. Nonetheless, the overwhelming spirit of love is hard to ignore which also causes viewers to melt into a pot of absurdity, slowly realizing that gangsters were outsmarted by a 10-year-old and her arsenal of cell phone cameras. So it’s Satan versus innocence, in a tussle of violence, blood and death. That should be enough to “trigger” a viewing! Just make sure your heart can take it.