April 2: Paradise Discovered: The Unbreakable Virgin Islanders
St John Film Society in partnership with
Bajo El Sol Gallery
7:30 pm / Tuesday, April 2, 2019
This film will be presented at the Bajo El Sol Gallery in Mongoose Junction, Cruz Bay.
Bailey will be present for Q & A following the screening.
Paradise Discovered:
The Unbreakable Virgin Islanders
A 60-minute documentary film by
St Thomas journalist and filmmaker Peter Bailey.
& Two films from FILMMAKERS UNITE:
FILM SYNOPSIS:
On September 6, 2017, hurricane Irma struck the island of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The category 5 storm was the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Less than two weeks later hurricane Maria, another category 5 storm, struck the already destroyed island paradise. The tragedy marked the first time in modern history that two category 5 hurricanes hit the same place in less than two weeks. Paradise Discovered: The Unbreakable Virgin Islanders is based on Bailey’s New York Times Op Ed ‘Has America’s Forgotten the Virgin Islands’, which he wrote while building a make-shift roof and living without electricity for 90 days. Unbreakable brings to life what has been called the worst natural disaster in American history. “When nature and the rest of the world left us in darkness we gave each other light,” says Bailey.
FILMMAKERS UNITE
Short films to be screened before the feature film:
THIS IS MY COUNTRY by Kris Samuelson and John Haptas ( 6:43 minute film )
Rising bigotry towards immigrants is spawning fear and anxiety that permeate the lives of children just trying to get through school in the country they call home.