The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

FEVER induced madness cripples the city of Nassau and sends three people on a hunt for food and clean water in a new Bahamian film to premiere tonight.

Affliction presented by Track Road Theatre and No Budget Productions will premiere at Galleria Cinemas JFK tonight and continue screening on Thursday night.
Affliction follows the journey of Noah and Sidney who have rescued Emily, an orphaned girl in the midst of an outbreak that causes turmoil in Nassau.

Tara Woodside, co-director of No Budget Productions said the plot of the movie did not come to life until team members got sick with dengue fever.

“I had the basic concept and knew the characters were in a deserted, desolate landscape and there was a menace. Exactly what it was, we didn’t know yet. Then the dengue fever outbreak happened and a bunch of us caught it and were doing really, really badly. People were ‘trippin’ out with paranoia, rocking and moaning in pain in bed, even bursting from bed screaming just to try and fight the pain. It was bad. Then, a few weeks after it was over we thought, this is it,” she said.
Matthew Kelly director said:

“What if this was just a little more virulent? What if the incubation period was just a little bit longer? You do not need an Ebola outbreak, just having enough people sick would mean hospitals are full. Healthy people would need to stay at home to care for their families. Everything would shut down.

The city would come to its knees. The US would impose travel bans, others would follow and we would be effectively quarantined even before foreign troops arrive to keep an eye on the situation,” he said.
Apart from Affliction being a 100 percent Bahamian movie, with a local cast, director and crew, the movie was produced on a budget just shy of $1000. The producers said this reflects an enormous amount of dedication and ingenuity on the part of crew, who were mostly volunteers.

“The actors got paid, but almost everyone else were volunteers, including me,” Mr Kelly said.

Despite the low budget Ms Woodside said Affliction is just as good as larger budget Bahamian films such a Get Charlie and Crazy Love.
“The movie should be a hit because we believe it is both thought provoking and eerie, something that is not common with Bahamian cinema,” Ms Woodside said.
Tonight viewers will also see a previous production, “From This Day Forward”, which is a comedic look at Bahamian families and weddings.

“We expect people to enjoy it and be amazed at what our people can produce with a particular skill set (film making), sheer determination and loads of creativity. People should go see the movie because we think it is a good film. It is also part of a double feature. So you get to see two great movies for the price of one.”

In the future No Budget Productions intends to do a full length, bigger budget version.
“That’s kind of the intent. Hopefully that will happen,” Ms Woodside said.