by Howard Campbell
SOUTH FLORIDA – Though not as heralded as other contemporary Jamaican movies, Foolish Advice will have its second showing on November 24 at Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center in Palm Beach.
Written and directed by Jamaican Stavan Whyte, the film premiered in September at Tradition Town Hall in Port St. Lucie and drew an enthusiastic audience of mainly Jamaicans who live in that city.
Whyte, who also plays the lead role of Jonathan, is confident of bigger things for Foolish Advice.
“I’m on a mission to spread love through drama, stage and film, so we (the cast) have to carry on that mission. We know we have something great,” he said.
A graduate of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica, Whyte and his wife Zaina provided the lion’s share of the $10,000 it took to produce Foolish Advice, which is based on the Biblical figure Hosea and his wife Gomer.
The ordained minister of religion stressed that Hosea and Gomer’s troubled marriage is defined by forgiveness which comes across in the movie. Sandra Chin plays Suzie, Jonathan’s wife; Shirley Petersen has the role of Suzie’s mother while Sharon Cain is Jennie, a prostitute.
Tano Bogle is Jonathan’s boss, and Belinda Bartley plays Dawn.
Whyte has lived in South Florida for over 10 years and has mounted plays like God Ova Obeah here. Foolish Advice, which was filmed in Miami, Palm Bay and Port St. Lucie, is his first movie.
There are tentative plans to show the movie in South Florida following the Palm Beach event. Whyte also hopes to take it to New York City in 2020.
Click to Watch Promo Video
Foolish Advice – November 24 at Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center
