Four Days in May: Kingston 2010
Details
Title: Four Days in May: Kingston 2010
Director: Deborah Thomas, Junior ‘Gabu’ Wedderburn en Deanne Bell
Year: 2017
Country: Jamaica and the United States
Runtime: 40′
Language: Jamaican English
Subtitles: English
Trailer
Synopsis
Four Days in May is a documentary about the West Kingston emergency in 2010, when the Jamaican police and military forces took violent action to arrest Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, a local ‘don’ (criminal leader) who the government wanted to extradite to the United States to stand trial for arms and drug trafficking. The ‘Tivoli Incursion’, as the operation was called in Jamaica, resulted in the deaths of 69 civilians in the garrison of Tivoli Gardens, Dudus’ power base. In this film, residents of the neighborhood talk about their experiences during the operation and share memories of the loved ones they lost. The emotional testimonials are combined with archival footage (both videos and photos), footage of the US drone filming during the operation, and hyper-realistic contemporary footage of Tivoli Gardens. As such, the viewer is encouraged to reflect on how ordinary people deal with international smuggling practices and how they are entangled with national governments, colonial forces and local practices.
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YardVibes
This film is part of YardVibes, a streaming platform for content from independent African and Caribbean makers. The platform offers many titles for rent, from feature films and web series to documentaries and short films, with new content added each month. All titles can be rented individually for a modest fee, which will largely benefit the makers. You can find the complete YardVibes film streaming catalogue at bit.ly/yardvibes.