2021 Entry #050 (02-06-21) “Children of God” is a 2010 Bahamian romantic drama film by director and screenwriter Kareem Mortimer, based on his 2007 short film “Float”. The film was produced by Richard LeMay (director of “200 American“, “Naked as We Came” & “Whirlwind”).
The film tells the story of two young Bahamian men who fall in love with each other, portraying homosexuality / bisexuality along with homophobia and its various consequences in Bahamian society. It was one of the first feature narratives from the Caribbean to address homosexuality; the Bahamas had banned the film “Brokeback Mountain” in 2006, yet “Children of God” was the opening night film of the Bahamas International Film Festival.
While Mortimer, a gay Bahamian himself, initially conceived his movie in purely romantic terms, it took a darker turn following the murders of five gay men over a few months in 2007 and 2008. He has said:
“Two of them I knew personally. One was the subject of a documentary I produced — he had AIDS and was killed very violently near where I live. He was almost decapitated. Another guy, a fashion designer, was stabbed multiple times in his house. I felt really afraid. I can’t even express how I felt, and one politician said things like ‘the only good homosexual is a dead homosexual’ that went unchallenged in the country. Bahamians are very generous, loving people, but it was an act of great shame.”
I loved almost everything about this film. I’ve wanted to see it ever since I learned it existed and I finally broke down and rented it on Amazon Prime. Part of me wishes I’d done so sooner, but really I’m just glad I saw it and it was a great movie to watch during Black History Month. I loved the characters in this movie; even the ones I didn’t agree with. These are complicated depictions and though I was sad to see the bleaker elements of the film, the movie does find a way to find some semblance of a happy ending, without diminishing the sense of tragedy.
The film made its International Premiere at the Miami International Film Festival and has premiered at over 100 film festivals around the world, winning at least 17 awards. “Children of God” was named one of the top ten films of 2010 on BET.com.