Projects: Barbados at the Races

Barbados at the Races (2010)

Drive Thru Pictures
BBC Television series, 4 Episodes (30 min.)
BBC Four "Storyville", UK (16th March 2010)
SBS TV, Australia (2011)
DR TV, Denmark (2010)

Synopsis

This four-part series looks at Barbados today through the lives – at work and at play – of the island's horse racing community. The series is centred on the Barbados Turf Club and following the stories of a colourful cast of characters, from the big white owners at the top of the tree right down to the poor black exercise riders and grooms. The Club and its racecourse have been based at the former British Army Garrison on the edge of the island's capital Bridgetown for over a hundred years. These quirky and, at times, spiritually-minded programmes look at how the culture of Barbados today, its institutions and the mindset of its people have been shaped by the colonial past and the legacy of and slavery.

Episode One - Bajan Born and Bred
This programme explores what it is to be Bajan (Barbadian) during the run-up to Independence Day. Jonathon Simpson owns a farm and breeding stables in the hills, where groom Pat Coward is kept busy breaking in yearlings for training. Meanwhile in St Ann's Fort next to the Garrison Savannah the Barbados Defence Force's top Sgt. Maj. Cherrol Dean is drilling his troops for the 43rd annual Independence Day Parade. The programme discusses the ways in which Bajans – human and equine alike – are both bred and nurtured and compares the experiences of single mothers Pat and army medic Safreya Small. This first programme finds an island influenced – but perhaps surprisingly not overshadowed – by its colonial past, with a sense of historical contradiction and ambiguity that is the heartbeat of the series.

Episode Two – The Jockey's Prayer
Following the lives of three very different riders The Jockey's Prayer is about the life of the Bajan jockey: the trials and deprivations of keeping on top of your game, the glory and glamour of success and the temptations and pitfalls that can come hand in hand with financial rewards. All these forces create a tight-knit community united by their mutual competitiveness and their love of the adrenaline-fuelled buzz of the track.

Episode Three – Run Cat Run!
It is not so long ago that the stands at the Barbados Turf Club were racially segregated, and until very recently the club was the preserve of the mainly white, wealthier classes. Now however the race track has attracted a new breed of small trainer determined to break into this exclusive gentleman's club. Run Cat Run! is a tale of two trainers, one big, powerful and white, one small, cash-strapped and black and shows that in the world of horse racing everyone can find themselves out of their depth.

Episode Four – The Favourite
There are two big races a year at the Barbados Turf Club: The Gold Cup and the Derby. This programme follows the build up for the Derby through the eyes of those who have trained and groomed the clear favourite in preparation for this historic race. Areutalkintome is on the verge of becoming only the sixth horse in over a century to complete the Triple Crown. All he has to do is win the Derby. As we follow those around Areutalkintome face up to their role in his success, the programme becomes about more than just horse-racing. It's about chance, predictability, life, death, fate and faith.

Biographies

Max Baring, Director

With an MA in Social Anthropology, Max Baring is a director with experience in making films about development, the environment, young people, disability, education, social issues, travel and adventure. In recent years he has directed observational documentary series looking at school life in Uganda, India and Syria, as well as GUARDING THE QUEEN, a three part series documenting a year in the life of the Grenadier Guards.  Max has also filmed around the subject of development aid in Afghanistan and has made several "Globetrekker" travel shows in El Salvador and Honduras, Morocco and the Arab Gulf States. Max co-produced, filmed and directed RUNNINGMAN for the Discovery Channel.  This ground-breaking four part adventure travel series brought internet connectivity to forest tribes in the Surinamese rainforest, offering them an international platform for their voices for the first time. BARBADOS AT THE RACES is Max's first collaboration with Lawrence Elman and Amber Entertainment.

Lawrence Elman, Producer

Lawrence Elman is Co-founder and Creative Director of Drive Thru Pictures Amber Entertainment (UK) Limited. Lawrence has a BA from McGill University, Canada, and a Masters from Webber Douglas Theatre Academy, England. As a director, he has been acclaimed as one of "[England's] most exciting new talents" with a "distinct style" and "powerful capacity for storytelling."[1] Lawrence brings with him a unique and detailed knowledge of the film industry, and a proven talent for visualising complex social and cultural issues in the developing world. Director Credits include: John Mortimer: A Life in Words, Vous Deux , Take it to the East – On tour with the Rolling Stones, Changemakers and Tracing Che – A Motorcycle Journey
Producer Credits: The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World, Office Tigers, Campaign Confidential—Documentary By Alex Kerry, 18 With a Bullet, News for the Church, Nine Lives of Alice Martineau, Rough Diamonds, Office Tigers and Team Qatar.

[1] Evening Standard, London. November 5, 2003

Credits

Produced by Amber Entertainment for BBC Four Storyville
4 episodes, 30 minutes
Producer & Director: Max Baring
Producer: Lawrence Elman
Associate Producer: Louise Palmer
Executive Producer: John Lloyd

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