She writes, directs and produces films about people, history and culture. Born in Suriname, she now lives in Aruba and Holland. She is Ida Does – a woman with a passion for telling stories and delving deeper into the history that shapes our experience. “The biggest challenge I have is limiting myself,” says Does. “I have to sit down and decide what the story will be. I choose to tell stories about people, families, about those who do exceptional things. But there are many stories to tell, and it’s hard to take only one at a time.” This is how she came to create “Poetry is an Island” – a one hour 20-minute film about St. Lucia’s Nobel Laureate in Literature, Derek Walcott.
The film had its St. Maarten debut at Philipsburg Jubilee Library on Monday of this week and Does was on hand to answer questions about the film and the man who is the subject of the documentary. She and her crew spent two weeks on St. Lucia in 2012, filming discreetly as he worked and socialized. “Derek Walcott has an intriguing personality. He doesn’t let people in easily. It was like a dance, filming him. Will he want to do what I suggest? Maybe not, so then I have to go with the flow. For example, I came up with the idea to film him with another Nobel Laureate who was visiting him, Irish poet Seamus Heaney. I said, “Could you both go for a walk, or perhaps go fishing?” I wanted to film them together, as they are good friends and both highly lauded poets, but from such different cultures.” Walcott shot down all her suggestions, saying he wanted to let his friend have time to relax. Then one day, he called Does, saying he had good news. A visit to a church in Jacmel was being planned and Heaney and Walcott were okay with the film crew coming along.
Later, she hoped to get Walcott to visit Rat Island, a small uninhabited piece of land that had been gifted to the poet by the government of St. Lucia after he returned from the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm. Walcott has long hoped to create an artist’s retreat on the island – a place where peace and quiet tap the inspirational muse – but so far, this has not gained support. After pitching the idea of filming him on the beach and being rebuked a few times, Does had almost given up when Walcott said he would do it. The scene is a magic one, where the poet reflects on what could be, as he stares with his lighted eyes at the land and sea, the distant horizons, and his own visions.
Walcott’s genius drew the filmmaker to St. Lucia, his poetry and imagery, his appreciation of nature’s myriad and fleeting details. Walcott’s work sings like the beating heart of Caribbean culture, pumping the past into the fluid future, telling us who we are and why we matter.
Walcott is a master of mindfulness, expressed Does. He is open to all he sees, he takes it in, experiences it, without wanting anything from it.
As I watched the documentary, I realized that, in fact, I had been reluctant to read the many works of Derek Walcott. Like many readers, I felt unsure; it can be intimidating to jump into the world of a great and prolific writer – where do you start? “Anywhere,” said Does, as we chatted after the film, yet still I had, almost subconsciously, been reticent. But here, with “Poetry is an Island,” I have my introduction, I am tantalized to read more, know more, to absorb the poetry and prose of Walcott, even to read his plays. I am ready to grow in understanding.
Does has worked as a journalist and a magazine editor in Suriname, Aruba and Holland. She has directed and edited several television programs, as well as compiled Caribbean films for international festivals in The Hague. Since 2007, she has run her own production company and has created five documentaries that showcase history, culture and art.
Ida Does and her film crew are already working on her next project – a film she calls “Traces of Sugar.” Set in Amsterdam, this documentary will highlight the hidden-in-plain-sight remains from the era of the Dutch West India Company’s successful slavery enterprises, in architecture, city artwork, and adornments. She also plans to document women artists of the Caribbean. DVDs of her films are on sale at the St. Maarten Book Fair and at the website www.idadoes.nl.
By Lisa Davis-Burnett
