D. Gisele Isaac: "The Sweetest Mango was meant to be a showcase of Antigua & Barbuda’s culture..."
D. Gisele Isaac is the scenarist of“The Sweetest Mango”, Antigua and Barbuda’s first full-length film. Although she showed her commitment to her island as an Executive Secretary of the Board of Education, today is about honouring the writer she is and her contribution to the Caribbean cinema industry. As an aspiring script writer and a romcom fan, my questions were about the writing process of the film and the Caribbean storytelling style. D. Gisele Isaac managed to put into perspective everything I’m thriving for. It’s not just about proving to the world that our culture and our identity are strong, well-defined and important. It’s also about giving us a sense of pride, about proving to us that we (as diverse as this we can be) matter in every way, that our hopes and dreams deserve to be told. I hope this short interview will inspire you as much as it inspired me.
I know the plot is inspired by the Allen couple love story. How much of it was reflected in the final draft of the script?
The bones of the movie were constructed from the Allens’ love story, but the flesh was pretty much my imagination. The gift of the mango – literally – had to be “the moment” for the screen couple; but, otherwise, the story was meant to be a showcase of Antigua & Barbuda’s culture, values, personalities, and physical beauty. The dialogue was mine to create; there was no “dictation” from the producers.
In your writing process, did you already know the outdoor places where the scenes would take place? How/Why did you choose these outdoor places to reflect the life in Antigua?
D. Gisele Isaac
The outdoor places were chosen by the producers. But, collectively, we wanted to capture places that were affirmative to Antiguans and Barbudans at home and evocative to those in the diaspora. Recognition and validation were what guided the choices. We wanted to “show off” our island. Not the holiday place that is sold to tourists, but where we live and how we live.
Luv returns after spending nearly her whole life in Canada. Richard spent his whole life on the island. Which life trajectory was the most common for young Antiguans back then? How about today? I’m asking because it’s an important issue here in Guadeloupe.
Many young scholars, ambitious young people, leave this country, mainly for North America, after completing secondary school, with the majority never returning to live. So, Lovelianne’s decision to come home is not so common. Richard staying here, creating a career out of a job, is a common scenario. Often this happens because families cannot afford to send their children abroad for university education. So they stay and enter the workforce and are content to take vacations abroad.
We hear about Luv’s parents and Richard’s father, we see her godmother and his sister, but was it intentional that there were no parents or grandparents on the screen?
It was intentional, I would say: a decision not to make the cast too large.
Did the film change your writing process?
The film did not change my writing process. It confirmed that I cannot write fiction in a linear or sequential fashion. Instead, I write what comes – I capture the scene or personality that is speaking to me at the time – then I fit the pieces together after to form the whole. When that is done, I review and trim. I very seldom add.
I feel like the Sweetest Mango is timeless. Still, how differently would you write it if it was set in 2020? I’m happy the story was written 20 years ago. Antigua & Barbuda, like the rest of the world, has become a harder, harsher place, with less innocence, less gentleness, less national pride, even. The nostalgia factor would have been absent. The Sweetest Mango is timeless precisely because of the time at which it was written.
What kind of other stories would you like to tell about your island?
Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to tell other types of stories. For HaMa Films I wrote “No Seed”, which is a political drama (set on the fictional island of St. Mark) that mirrors the political reality of Antigua & Barbuda. It shows the dark side of “paradise,” where money, greed, manipulation, self- interest, and even murder are played out. I have also written “Considering Venus”, the story of a relationship between two women – one gay, the other straight – that is set in New York and Antigua. It acknowledges what was taboo (in 1998): not only same-sex love but same-sex love among Caribbean people. It speaks to how the relationship affects the families of each woman and what people are prepared to sacrifice – or embrace – to find emotional fulfillment. It is my absolute best work!
Click here to read the French translation of this interview.
I’d like to thank Joanne C. Hillhouse for helping me to contact D. Gisele Isaac and, of course, I want to thank D. Gisele Isaac for answering my questions and her kindness.