The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

CREATIVE mind Jason Evans, also known as Artist Javan, released the country’s first animated film “Kris Kombusus (The Tall Tale of An Accidental Tourist)” last week at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. After many years of hard word and trial and error, the film, also a first for Artist Javan, is complete.

The 25-minute “Kris Kombusus” animated film is a parody of the Christopher Columbus story. The lead character being a Bahamian young man by the name of Igbo Hepburn from Ghuanahani, tricks Kombusus into using his maps for a free ride back home after a semester break in Europe.

“The Columbus story is always being told from a European standpoint, but what about the people who he met there and massacred for his benefit? Their stories are never told, but I also realize that this is a sensitive subject so we approached with caution and laughter,” said Mr Evans.

He said the characters in the film were written with no one really in mind, but as he got to the part of selecting the voices, it was fairly easy to choose from members of his improv comedy team.

“As for the events in the film, they were brought out of the history pages both my cousin Andrew (Aydee) Rolle and I read about,” he said.

If he had to create it all over again, Mr Evans said he wouldn’t change anything in the film itself, but if he had a proper working computer, it would not have taken six years.

“The audience members were laughing at jokes I wrote and even at parts I didn’t expect them to. One response I got was that it felt like a history lesson, which is something I wanted to achieve with this film, because it is based on historical facts with a twist. Another comment was that the film far exceeded their expectations, so that’s a plus in my world as well. To date, I have never received any negative responses,” he said.

So far, he said the film has screened at COB north Campus, Grand Bahama, Chicago, Canada and Trinidad.

In an interview with Tribune Entertainment, Mr Evans, a graphic designer, said he got extremely “bored of the mediocre requests for work”. He said his “itch” became more of an annoying scratch, when his business partner bought him an Anime Studio Program on a whim. He said he has not looked back since.

“I quit the graphic design business and got an opportunity to leave the country for a while, which was great for me. It gave me the opportunity to really spend time learning the programme and eventually working on a script that I challenged my cousin to write. After doing that, I took that script and added to the story by changing up a few of the characters and six years later my first film was created,” said Mr Evans.

He said his inspiration and influence for film-making comes from films such as: “Basquiat”, which is still a favourite for him. “ I love Mel Brooks films, “History of the World Part 1” , all of the “Star Wars” films, George Lucas and Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away”. I could go on,” he said.

Mr Evans said while he sees film-making as a career, here in the Bahamas it is an epic struggle. Fortunately, he said with animation, he can be anywhere in the world creating, but he would just love to use his own people to get the work done.

“But let’s face it, that will cost money, and being an artist here in the Bahamas seems to only be for the certain few, and I am not apart of that exclusive circle,” he said.

With strong views, He added: “Unless there are patrons hiding in the shadows waiting on that perfect timing, I can’t really see me continuing here as an animator, not if I want to have food on my table, and that’s the sad reality of many artists here, no matter what the craft is.”