‘The Wind That Blows’ looks at Bequia’s proud past

The National Trust is facilitating next Monday the screening in Kingstown of a documentary film that depicts life in Bequia 23 years ago.{{more}}

“‘The Wind That Blows’ offers an in-depth look at these simple, honest and brave men, as they fight to keep tradition alive under the pressure of modernization and international scrutiny. Men who reap no significant reward other than providing sustenance for the bodies and souls of their families and neighbours,” a Facebook page bearing the film’s name says of the documentary.

“Ultimately, this film is about an island struggling to cling to not just a proud past, but an identity,” the Facebook page further says.

And Louise Mitchell-Joseph, chair of the National Trust, told SEARCHLIGHT yesterday that the Tom Weston film “presents a historical perspective on life in Bequia 20 years ago.

“It is about whaling but not just about whaling. It sort of captures life from that time as well,” said Mitchell-Joseph, who opposes whaling.

She explained that Weston is an American who lived in Bequia in 1989, when he started the “pro-whaling film”.

“It captures life in Bequia at a certain period of time and that is the way it was. What the film does not show is what is happening in Bequia today — a total one-sided view of whaling,” said Mitchell-Joseph, who last year told the International Whaling Commission of her opposition to whaling in Bequia.

She has said that the island’s whalers could profit more from whale watching, a suggestion that whalers dismissed as unfeasible.

But Mitchell-Joseph said that the story the film depicts is an important one “because it is part of our history and has to be respected for that.

“But it is not a film that gives you an objective approach to the whaling issue. So, to me, it has merit as a historical piece.

“… There is so little evidence of our past, in terms of we haven’t recorded our history … and this film actually does that. So, although I totally disagree with its angle, and its perspective, it still has merit as a historical piece and the National Trust wants to encourage people to write and to document, right or wrongly, how they see history.

“It’s one man’s vision of whaling in Bequia — as history is; every person recording history, they record the way they see it. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any merit in it, just because they didn’t capture it the way you would,” Mitchell-Joseph further told SEARCHLIGHT.

The 55-minute film will be screened at the National Trust building in Kingstown on Monday — January 21 — at 6 p.m.

Mitchell-Joseph said the film will also be screened in Bequia. (kentonchance@searchlight.vc)