Roy T. Anderson: Filmmaker documents his heritage

August 11, 2011 — AFK

Source: Paul H. Williams, Jamaica Gleaner

Jamaica-born film-maker Roy T. Anderson capturing footage for his film, 'Akwantu - The Journey', on location at the Peace Cave in Accompong, St Elizabeth, recently. - Photo by Paul Williams

The story of the Jamaican Maroons goes back, perhaps, to when the first shipload of slaves arrived in the island. These nonconformists led a life of active and passive resistance in the island’s rugged terrain, and their indomitable spirits wore the oppressors down, leading to their being granted full autonomy of their lands.

The struggle for their freedom, and subsequent independence, are well documented by local and international scholars and researchers, and told in different ways to suit various agendas.

One man who also wants to put his own perspective on this story of epic proportions is Hollywood stuntman and descendant of the Accompong Maroons, Roy T. Anderson.

Trip to motherland

The New Jersey-based film-maker is currently in Jamaica capturing footage for his feature-length documentary, Akwantu – The Journey, which was also shot in Ghana, the United States and Canada. It will feature, inter alia, Anderson’s journey “to the ‘Motherland’ to retrace the steps of his ancestors where they made the agonisingly long trek on foot from the northern countryside to the coastal dungeons of the former Gold Coast (now Ghana)”.

Filming in Africa: Anderson is introduced to Nana Afua Tweneboa, grand daughter of Ashanti warrior Queen Nana Yaa Asantewaa, at the family compound in Ejisu. PHOTO CREDIT: MACPRI

The film is a result of Anderson’s search for his roots. “What really started out several years ago as a simple genealogy project just really took on a life of its own as I began to uncover more and more documentary information about the family elders, like birth certificates, death certificates, etc.,” the writer/producer says of his first documentary. Read more…. (full story at Jamaica Gleaner)

Roy T. Anderson is also featured in this article by Paul H. Williams: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100628/news/news1.html