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Publication:
THE CHARLESTON
GAZETTE TAKE
TWO BYLINE:
Marina Hendricks Hugh Canada credits his father for fostering his initial interest in filmmaking. Like many a proud father, Hugh Canada Sr. believes in videotaping important moments in his son's life. "My dad actually has always filmed all of my sports activities," said the younger Canada, who played football and basketball at Capital High before graduating in 1996. "I would just come home and watch all my films." Now, instead of watching films, the West Virginia State College senior helps to create them. "Sound the Drum," a documentary he co-produced with Hamza Abdullah and Mike Riley, screens on Saturday at the West Virginia International Film Festival at the Capitol Center Theater in downtown Charleston. "Sound the Drum" and its companion short film, "Duara," are the initial products of an educational collaboration between West Virginia State College and the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Called TeleDrum, the program is the brainchild of filmmaker Danny Boyd, an associate professor of communications at State. The film festival screenings mark the world premieres of both "Duara" and "Sound the Drum." A tragic love story, "Duara" contains an underlying message about AIDS awareness. "Sound the Drum" details the effort to make "Duara." "It is a rare opportunity, indeed, to screen a true international collaboration and we jumped at the chance to have the world premiere during the fall film festival," WVIFF President Pam Haynes said. "It's an important piece that needs to be seen. The topic affects young adults worldwide." Boyd established a relationship between State and UDSM in 1998-1999, when he went to Tanzania as a Fulbright scholar. He taught the first filmmaking and screenwriting classes at UDSM. In 2001, he secured a grant of nearly $ 20,000 from the Fulbright Legacy Fund's Alumni Initiative Awards program for the TeleDrum project. The funding permitted him to bring along a student from State for the "Duara" shoot, which took place in Tanzania this past summer. He chose Canada for the plum assignment. "It was a no-brainer," Boyd said. "We have a lot of great students ... but Hugh was our best." Ironically, Canada at first did not consider studying filmmaking in earnest. "I was a computer science major at Kentucky State University. When I transferred [to State], I got into the communications department." He first earned Boyd's respect for his work on "Sport Nuts," a local ESPN2 highlight show put together at State. Boyd noted that Canada was the first "rookie" to produce the show - a task normally assigned to advanced communications students. Canada went on to become a lab assistant in the communications department, helping his fellow students with their production assignments. "Pressure is what helps me strive," he said. "It always helps when someone like Danny tells you you're doing a good job." In Tanzania, Canada supervised the sound crew for the "Duara" shoot and collected footage for "Sound the Drum." "Being a lab assistant [here] definitely helped me in that respect," he said. "If I don't know it, I will ask. It wasn't difficult to relay what I knew to them. It let me know that it takes a lot to be a teacher." Because many of the UDSM students could speak at least some English, the language barrier was not a problem for Canada, who is contemplating studying Swahili, the tongue they most encountered in Tanzania. "It was probably more challenging for me than the African students," he said. "They knew my language a whole lot better than I knew theirs. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. "It made me feel kind of bad. They knew not only English, but several other languages. It makes me want to learn their language even more." The four-week experience taught Canada a great deal, he said. Most important, he learned not to take things for granted. "It opens up your eyes and lets you know the United States is a great place," he said. "From what I saw, I think [Tanzanian filmmakers] kind of limit themselves. That's only because it's their tradition. In the United States, filmmakers use all kinds of genres and techniques." "Duara" complements an awareness campaign sponsored by the Tanzanian Commission on AIDS. Partners in the film include Johns Hopkins University's center for communications programs, Healthscope Tanzania and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Boyd said "Duara" will start airing on Tanzanian television by the end of this year. If the sponsors are happy, more projects may follow, since the idea was that TeleDrum would be an ongoing program. "I'm kind of intrigued by this role of the filmmaker as an agent for change," he said. As for Canada, he is contemplating what lies beyond his graduation from State this December. He may pursue graduate studies, but ultimately hopes to find a way to combine his love of filmmaking with his other passion, rap music. Until then, he is open to more learning experiences. "I'm trying to think outside the box - think big. But you have to get out there and crawl first," he said. "I'm willing to get myself involved with more film production on a volunteer basis. You can never learn too much." Boyd told his protege that he can afford to be selective. "You're past volunteer days now, Hugh. You're a player."
To contact staff writer Marina Hendricks, use e-mail or call 348-4881.
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