Imagine this, an island boy yelling “CUT!” on a film set!

Filmmaker, Adrian Campbell from Grenada has been selected to be part of the official lineup for this year’s Hamilton Black Film Festival in Canada. This festival although in its first year showcases culture and tradition as seen through the art of filmmaking. Adrian’s entry, ‘A Walk To Solace’, shows what he calls “a psychosis in today’s society” and its effects.

For most of his life Adrian Campbell, now 31, lived on the island of Grenada. With absolute focus and painfully saving for five years, Adrain finally had enough money to pursue his dreams. So, he quits his job at Sandals La Source and followed his passion to go to Canada where he pursued studies at not one, but two institutions simultaneously. He studied at the Toronto Academy for Acting and Film, and also online at Lights Film School. Regarding his balancing of both institution’s workloads, he said “It was actually very tough”. To him, however, it was time well spent as last year, his first film, ‘Decension’, was a semifinalist at another film festival.

While conducting research for another documentary, Adrian stumbled upon the topic for the Hamilton Black Film Festival submission. He was deep in character research when he came upon a human condition, an illness one of the subjects he was studying suffered from. A psychosis or mental disorder in which thoughts and emotions become so unbalanced that the reality of those afflicted often fades. Adrian came to understand the effects of this illness, the impacts it has on people, and yet how despite its prevalence in society, acknowledging its presence and dealing with it often gets swept under the rug.

Scene from A Walk To Solace

According to Adrian Campbell, the writer, and director for ‘A Walk To Solace’:

“The film itself basically deals with a man who endured a very traumatic experience in his life and he is struggling with not only dealing with it but also accepting how the incident happened. Then, at the end of the film, the method of his dealing with it is revealed.”

Adrian went on to say:

“One thing I’ve noticed about many people is that when they go through terrible experiences, they deal with it by not dealing with it.” With this film, he seeks to shed light on the dangers of unresolved emotions and the consequences they can have on a person.

Adrian’s pull toward filmmaking actually started from the Jim Carrey flick, ‘The Mask’. From the beginning, Adrian has had a magnetic attraction to shaping the worlds of the characters he creates. In fact, his head nods in agreement at the fact that this movie, ‘The Mask’, acts one hundred percent as a pivotal moment in his life.  From loving it at first, to positively hating it to then loving it again, Adrian said “this is the movie that really changed my perception of being”.

CEH wishes this future director all the best with his endeavors!

 

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