Storm Saulter’s ‘Possession’ hits HBO Max

Jamaican filmmaker Storm Saulter can now strike one dream off his career wish-list: having his work carried by HBO.

Possession, the five-part supernatural thriller miniseries set between Jamaica and England, which Saulter directed for British-based Sky Studios, premiered last Friday on HBO Max across the Caribbean and Latin America.

“Symbolically, it’s a very big deal for me. HBO is the channel I watched growing up that introduced me to prestige television,” said Saulter.

Glued to the television set in his parents’ bedroom on Sunday nights, teenage Storm was riveted by The Sopranos, the multiple Emmy Award-winning crime drama centred on a mobster and his family.

“ The Sopranos had a big impact on me. Then there was The Wire, and Sex and the City, and other shows as well. HBO is the gold standard of television, so, for my work to be carried by HBO, this is what I have been dreaming about since I was a little kid, if I am being real,” he said as he reflected on seeing his directorial work now making its own indelible mark.

Possession debuted in August on Sky TV in the United Kingdom.

Saulter’s propulsive dramatic work, which intercuts between the 18th century and the present day, tells an expansive tale of colonialism’s ugly realities.

Written by Karla Crome, the limited series stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a British-based biracial lawyer sent by her law firm to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim for a client’s plantation estate.

Jamaican actors Sheldon Shepherd, Nadean Rawlins and Jeff Crossley figure prominently in the gripping storyline interspersed with paranormal elements. The miniseries also explores themes of race, class and the enduring legacy of slavery.

‘Right on time’

The recent filing of a reparations petition to King Charles III in London by Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange has generated global headlines. Against this backdrop, Saulter feels Possession has arrived at a particularly opportune time.

“It is right on time precisely because of the larger conversations that are happening,” remarked the director. “You have to have difficult conversations. That’s what cinema and art should do.”

Speaking further, he argued that “even the fact that this issue of reparations was brought by members of the Jamaican government to the United Kingdom and, as far as I understand, it was not greeted with open arms.”

“[In Possession] we are showing the horrors of the past and the colonial spirit which, in my opinion, has reemerged within the last 10 years in different parts of the world. It is making it plain that people haven’t necessarily evolved fully past that. That instinct of control, domination and hierarchy is very much in a lot of the people who run the states and structures of the world,” Saulter added.

The filmmaker spoke with The Gleaner while in Europe last week to attend Frieze London, a contemporary art showcase. His photographic work was featured in ‘Citations’, an installation mounted by Black Curatorial.

As to feedback he’s received since the miniseries made its landing, Saulter, who attended the Manning’s School in Westmoreland and graduated from the Los Angeles Film School in California, says it has been mostly positive.

“I honestly feel there’s a bit of a scale for reaction. I think people who have a connection to the culture, whether it’s Caribbean, the Caribbean diaspora or even African diaspora, they see the relevance of the story and how genuinely it’s told,” he shared.

He said he had not yet encountered criticism from audiences who may not identify with the film’s portrayal of race and ethnicity.

“There is this kind of anti-immigrant, subtly racist energy that’s in the air, and we are telling a story of the horrors of colonialism, enslavement and the importance of reparation,” said the director, with a pair of feature films, B etter Mus’ Come and Sprinter, under his belt.

“Just bringing that conversation to the fore is going up against this right-wing political dialogue going on in the UK and across many countries in the world. It’s a propaganda war out there right now. So, for people who don’t like the truth, this may be the type of story they want to ‘big up’, but can’t deny how good it is.”

He was met with a warm reception in his hometown of Negril, where the show’s first two episodes were publicly screened at the recently staged Negril Universal Film Festival.

“It was special because that was a place I grew up dreaming of being a storyteller. To go back there and show it in front of a large crowd by the ocean, on the beach where I grew up, was definitely a full-circle moment,” the contemplative creative observed.

“I am glad that’s where we did the first public screening in Jamaica.”

Beyond HBO Max’s rollout of the miniseries in the region, he revealed that viewers across the globe will soon be able to watch the dramatic thriller unfold too.

Global rollout

“ Possession is opening all over the world right now. It’s opening in Canada on October 27 on Showcase and Stack TV Canada. On continental Africa, it will be on M-Net, and it’s also showing in Germany, France, Australia and India. Our next big thing will be when we open in the United States, but I don’t have a date for that yet,” he informed The Gleaner.

Turning to future projects, he divulged that he is developing a television series in the vein of his 2018 film Sprinter.

“Not the same characters of the film but that world of track and field. It’s about Jamaican athletes but also a global story that does not only take place here. That is something I have been working on right now, building off my feature Sprinter into a new world, but with a similar vibe,” he revealed of his possible next big undertaking.

Off the clock, the filmmaker and photographer is most content with his ladylove, Christine Desir, Miss Universe Haiti 2014 and a wellness and skincare entrepreneur.

The two met years earlier at a film festival.

“I have really been working a lot and I am very grateful to have somebody in my life that really appreciates and understands what I am trying to achieve and really supports it,” he shared.

“She is a great friend. We get along and we love each other. I like to have someone in my life that brightens my light and doesn’t dim it.”

entertainment@gleanerjm.com