A film, shot in Guyana and parts of New York early last year, was set to premiere in New York yesterday at the Kew Gardens Theater.
The film, Karma: A Love Story, which was written and directed by Frankie Sooknanan, is a love story loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.
According to information on its website, the story revolves around two best friends living in 1980s Guyana, who fall in love with the same girl.
Karma was fully produced by Flat Tire Productions on a shoestring budget of US$12,000. It was distributed by the same entity for a special one week release at Kew Gardens Theater from yesterday to next Wednesday. It is also scheduled to be shown in Guyana from February 14 to 17.
The film tells the story of love, betrayal, and friendship while exploring love and how it can easily lead to hatred and the human need for revenge to ease the pain of a broken heart. The story is of two friends, one rich and one poor, who both live in Guyana. They both fall in love with the same girl, unbeknownst to the other. Many years later love brings them together again, but the hatred they have for each other overpowers that love and brings forth tragedy.
Over 50% of the film was shot on location in Guyana mostly on the West Coast. Primary filming locations included Parika backdam, Meten-Meer-Zorg, De Willem, Lamaha Gardens, and Leonora cane fields.
According to the website, the cast and crew stayed in De Willem for the one-month shoot in January 2007. Most of the production was kept under wraps because the crew did not want to draw too much attention to themselves. They received full cooperation and a wonderful reception from the locals.
In April 2007 filming of the New York scenes began and the production finally wrapped in late May.
The script was written in 2004 by Sooknanan but was placed on the backburner for three years because Flat Tire Productions did not have enough money at the time to produce the film.
