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WWII documentary premiered in Suriname
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| Published on Thursday, July 2, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeanentnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- A documentary depicting Suriname's role in WWII, premiered here during the time the annual "The Back Lot International Film Festival", came in for high praise from the movie go-ers and critics.
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| Film maker, Dave Edhard |
In an attempt to shed some light on Suriname’s role during World War II, especially the production of bauxite to supply aluminum for the war industry, film maker Dave Edhard (34) succeeded in crafting a historical picture with the crashes of two US military aircraft in 1943 in Suriname as backdrop.
Scores of dignitaries, including President Ronald Venetiaan, were present at the world premiere of "Mayday" in the Westin theater Thalia here in Paramaribo. In an invited comment Edhard argued that it was very challenging making the film due to a lack of archived material in Suriname while most people who could give a personal account about the plane crashes, which happened over 60 years ago, are deceased.
"Most of Suriname’s history has not been recorded through a Surinamese perspective and I wanted to tell the story of Suriname’s contribution to win the war to the world from a Surinamese perspective," said the young filmmaker. "A lot of Surinamese nationals and numerous people all over the world don’t know that Suriname has provided over 80 per cent of all the aluminum to build the war planes," said Edhard.
After eight months of preparations and research, with assistance from the National Army, Edhard undertook several expeditions and ultimately located the crash sites of a Dakota DC3, in a practically inaccessible swamp some 150 kilometers west of the capital Paramaribo and a C-54 aircraft in the Commewijne district some 30 kilometers east of the capital.
Archieves obtained from several institutions in the United States of America indicate that the DC-3 aircraft crashed in June 1943 due to mechanical problems. The four-strong crew survived the incident, stayed for 11 days with the wreck and after plodding through the swamp and dense tropical forest eventually found help in a remote Amerindian village.
The second aircraft exposed in the documentary, a C-54, crashed in the Commewijne district, killing all 35 passengers, in what at that time was the worst air disaster in the Western Hemisphere. This aircraft was most likely on its way to the Casablanca Conference, when it crashed in a swamp.
Rumours of a bomb on board allegedly forced the pilot, Benjamin Hart Dally, to land in Trinidad and Tobago to search the plane. However, no bomb was found.
Among those lost were Maj. Eric Mowbray Knight, author of the much-loved novel, Lassie Come-Home.
Evidence at the crash site allegedly had indicated that the airplane was on a secret mission to North Africa. Including large sums of money and secret-coded documents for British General Sir Harold Alexander.
The crash made headlines in major newspapers across the US a week following the crash. Although officials promised an investigation into the cause, to this date, no official cause has been given by the United States government.
Meanwhile, due to Edhard's movie, the US government is looking into the possibility of reopening the investigation into the Commewijne crash and recover the bodies of the victims. Earlier this year US Defence officials visited the crash sites to assess whether it is possible to find the location where the victims have been laid to rest by locals.
In the movie, a daughter of flight captain Benjamin Dally and a granddaughter of Eric Knight, in a very moving scene at the crash site, paid tribute to the victims, displaying the US flag the granddaughter received some 60 years ago at a ceremonial burial of her grandfather.
Edhard and several movie critics say that the documentary has some educational value since scores of youths and grown-ups know little of the country's war history.
Edhard disclosed that, since the US established a military base in Suriname during the war, and due to the booming bauxite and aluminum industry, the Surinamese economy had benefitted from the war, as did large sections of the community, which found employment with the Americans and the mining company.
Currently the movie is being prepaired for an international audience, since narration in the original version is in Dutch. | | | | Reads : 1471 | | | |
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