Filmmaker Statement

Bermuda is a small island with a big cultural story that the world rarely gets to hear on our own terms. The Gombey is one of the most spiritually rich traditions we have rooted in African, Native American, and Bermudian ancestry and we wanted to give it a cinematic voice that felt true to what we know it to be. I wrote the poem first. Everything else grew from there. The film became a collaboration with six active Gombey troupes, musicians, photographers, and community members who trusted us to handle something sacred with care. That trust shaped every decision we made. I am not a Gombey historian. I am a Bermudian poet who believes that thoughts become things and that stories rooted in real culture, told with real people, will find their audience anywhere in the world. This film is proof of that.