ROSEAU, Dominica — A Dominican filmmaker is bringing a little-explored chapter of the island’s post-emancipation history to the screen with the premiere of Rebel & Jango, a short film that places Dominican Creole language and local culture at the centre of its story.

Written, directed and produced by Jade Leatham through her company Creole Collective Productions, the film will make its world premiere in Dominica on October 29, with a red-carpet event themed the Madras Masquerade, held on the eve of Creole Day.

Shot entirely on location in Dominica, Rebel & Jango stars Leatham as Rebel alongside Los Angeles-based actor Isaac B. Ramirez. The story draws on a period of the island’s post-emancipation history that, according to the production team, has never previously been portrayed on screen.

The film also makes a deliberate use of Dominican Creole, or Kweyol, and local expressions in its dialogue, an effort Leatham says is about allowing Caribbean stories to be told in the voices of the people who live them.

The production also features Kalinago actors, recognising their contribution to Dominica’s cultural life.

Leatham said the project grew out of her own connection to the island, where she was raised and educated, and her interest in using film to preserve and explore Caribbean history.

“I am not just bringing a film home. I am bringing a conversation about what the creative economy can do for a small island nation,” she said. “Dominica has stories the world has not yet heard. Local filmmakers are at the beginning of telling them.”

The film has already been selected for three international film festivals and received a Best Actor award at one of them. Its Dominica premiere will be its first screening on the island where it was made.

The October 29 event will include red-carpet arrivals, a screening, a question-and-answer session with the filmmaker and a walk-through of an art exhibition by the Waitukubuli Arts Association. The premiere will also be broadcast live to the Caribbean diaspora.

As part of the visit, Creole Collective Productions will donate a specially produced colouring book featuring the film’s characters to schools in Dominica, with the aim of encouraging arts education and creative expression among young people.

The premiere is also part of a longer-term plan for the company. Creole Collective Productions is developing a five-year creative initiative that includes further instalments of Rebel & Jango as full-length feature films to be shot in Dominica, alongside projects exploring Caribbean history, Kalinago and Maroon heritage, and Caribbean futurism.

The company said it hopes to continue working with the Ministry of Tourism and the Discover Dominica Authority, which it credited with supporting the film and premiere.