Faxinfo: Hello Joel. There's a lot of talk about you and your film at the moment, who is Joel Ayuk?
Joel Ayuk: Originally from Cameroon, I have lived in Saint-Martin for around twenty years. My life is a constant learning process, I have a thirst for knowledge. For example, it took me ten years to learn the profession of director by devouring books on the subject.
Fx: How did you come up with the idea for this film?
HA: The issue of domestic violence is something very important that we encounter everywhere. I wanted to break the silence that surrounds it in families and which conditions the adult life of many children who witness this violence. During the Covid months, I took the opportunity to write this film, inspired by a true story.
Fx: What is the story?
HA: An alcoholic police officer abused as a child humiliates and beats his wife who does not denounce him, hoping that things will get better. But the story ends badly...
Fx: But you need a big budget to make a film…
HA: Yes indeed. I contacted various actors in the USA, Nigeria, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin, Sint Maarten and we started. I received a lot of support and confidence from local business leaders who understood that this film could help change things and get people talking about our island.
Some lent me accommodation for the actors, others cars, equipment... Others gave me credit, which I will have to repay when the film, I hope, is shown in theaters around the world .
Fx: In fact, are you applying to be included in the list of nominees for the Cannes Film Festival?
HA: Yes in the “independent film” category
Fx: Why the title Choke Hold?
HA: In English it means “strangulation” like when you grab someone’s throat with your arm to suffocate them and prevent them from speaking…
International actors: Cast: Enyinna Nwigwe (lead actor, star in Nigeria), Kenneth Okolie (actor in Chicago), Sherando Ferril (lead actress, Jamaican star), Simeon Henderson (actor in Chicago), Brely Evans (actress in Los Angeles), Oremeyi Kareem (actress in Kentucky)
Local actors: Victoria Duchene (actress in Saint-Martin) and more than 17 people with the status of local actors + around fifty people with the status of extras, mostly local
Financial help : Community of Saint-Martin, Tourist Office on both sides of the island, Semsamar, private.
Aid / Sponsoring / Services:
- Companies
– Associations
– Individuals
– Public / private
Projections planned for 2024: USA, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Africa, Europe…
Choke Hold had its world premiere in Jamaica on December 3, and will be shown in Nigeria in January 2024 and in the United States in mid-2024. As a reminder, a new screening is scheduled for this Saturday, December 30 at 20:30 p.m. Caribbean Cinemas partly Dutch.
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