Five years after he started the project, and a few months after its November'09 debut at UWI in Jamaica, Guyanese filmmaker Clairmont Chung's W.A.R. Stories, a documentary on the life, activism, and death of Dr. Walter Rodney, was screened last evening (2/8/10) at the Brecht forum--a New York arts venue with a mission to feature the work of radical leftist movements and activists, operating since 1975.
The film's narrative on Walter Rodney is told by over 15 narrators, all people who knew him well or who were tremendously influenced by him. The narrators include some of his Working Peoples' Alliance (WPA) fellows in arms, and some of his UWI classmates Rupert Roopnaraine, Eusi Kwayana, Abbyssinian Carto, Andaiye, Karen DeSouza, Denys Vaughn-Cooke, Richard Small, Robert Hill, Tacuma Ogunseye, and Horace Campbell. The narratives and narrators crisscross, go back and forth across continents, build on each other, and they are filled with humor, horror, sentimentality, and awe.
Their stories span Rodney's early childhood, where he is described as a person who always seemed to be free to roam and think for himself, to his Queens College years where he gained respect and a following as a sharp intellect, to his years at UWI, where he continued to excel, and gained repute for being the man who not only ventured into the places where they lived, but who also brought RASTAS! on UWI's middle-upper class campus, and finally to his assassination in 1980--still an angering and heart-felt emotional recollection for some.
The narratives are spliced with music--Louie Lepkie's wailing lyrics about his killing featuring prominently (listen below)--and footage from newsreels, newspapers, as well as footage from two films about Guyana. The combination of sources, and the varied forms of telling lend credibility to the film, and present the message that Rodney's influence was both far-reaching and unforgettable.
Salient moments / highlights on film: from light moments to awe-inspiring events, then to the sudden (still fresh for some) news of death:
In no particular order of importance or chronology...
--Vaughn-Cooke's story of a late-night genip-tree raid by a group of QC boys, that could have gotten them expelled save for the fact that Rodney (an admired student) was one of the raiders. Vaughn-Cooke provoked laughter from the small, packed room when he related that as they were being berated by the head master at assembly, the accused sat quietly, surreptitiously, sucking on the stolen fruit.
--UWI classmate's description of Rodney's penchant for discussion and street-exchanges as a "breath of fresh air" as well as a new and frightening thing for some who thought intellectuals should only talk to each other.
--"He always sought to make real what he thought" : Horace Campbell's placement of him as a thinker and activist who extended C.L.R. James's theories on social justice by actually seeking to act on them in Africa and in the Caribbean.
--Several descriptions of Rodney as someone who always managed to disturb and antagonize those who were in positions of authority wherever he went. And Kwayana credits him with having raised the level of intellectual debate (which according to Kwayana was non-existent) upon his return to Guyana in 1974.
--Rupert Roopnaraine and Tacuma Ogunseye recount details of Rodney's escape from surveillance and his arrival in Zimbabwe where he had been invited to join their celebration of Independence (April, 1980). Burnham was there too, and according to Ogunseye, was probably personally offended (embarrassed too, since Rodney showed up despite his attempts to bar him from leaving Guyana) when Rodney was asked to speak. That may have been (they theorize) the event which spurred on the plot to assassinate him. He was assassinated in June of 1980.
--American poet Amiri Baraka in his usual jocular, irreverent manner providing some thoughts for connecting threads, connecting Walter Rodney's activism in the 1960s to occurrences in the American Civil Rights struggle during the same period. Baraka's comment about people who were reluctant to shed blood for the cause resonated most since it was apparent that Rodney and members of the WPA had at some point decided they needed to arm themselves for that kind of fight.
--Shocking moment? Rupert Roopnaraine admitting they were amassing arms in preparation for a bloody war (if it came to that).
--Cringing moment? A slightly amused, mocking Burnham (in an interview shortly after Rodney's assassination), subtly spinning the theory of a jail-house bombing gone wrong.
--Nice moment: A hearty round of applause when the late Rex Nettleford appears on screen. Though his speaking moment is brief, we are treated to the sight of him going through dance moves in the studio.
--Praise and departure: Footage from two Guyanese films are shown throughout the film--The Terror and the Time (1981), and In the Sky's Wild Noise (1983?). [Chung notes that much of Guyanese art (film included, I suppose) has a dreamy, mystical quality or feel, and though he pays tribute to some of that tradition in his film, his realism is certainly a departure from that genre.]
--One can certainly appreciate the ending narratives (Roopnaraine's admonishment of the absence of teachings on Walter Rodney's life and legacy in Guyanese classrooms being particularly noteworthy), which attempt to bring some kind of closure to the killing of Walter Rodney. I felt however, the most appropriate ending to the film would have been the shot (or sequence of shots) of Donald Rodney fingertracing a detailed blueprint of the route he and Walter took that final fatal night. For me, it would have been the most fitting pointless articulate end to the story of a wasteful pointless killing.
What if? And What role can the film play?
Two questions drew the most discussion in the post-screening Q and A period. Someone asked about the WPA's immediate reaction to Rodney's killing, and panelist Abbyssinian Carto talked about how difficult it was to restrain from striking back in kind. He said ultimately reason ruled, and many acknowledged that killing servants of the state in street protests would not have been appropriate retaliation against the bigger evils. He admitted, though, it was tempting to gather and act on the physical anger of the many who wanted blood in retribution for the killing.
Another question about the reason (for) and role of the film led to another lengthy discussion on how Rodney's flame should be kept burning (so to speak), and about shared responsibility for keeping his flame burning. The general feeling in the room was that each of us is responsible. And it's clear that Clairmont Chung's W.A.R. Stories, though not yet available for circulation, has taken great strides towards that end.
We were inspired.
