Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
FILM-MAKER Jason Carter’s celebrated Grain of Sand project, focusing on the kingdom’s pearl diving culture and legacy, has received further international recognition.
As he prepares to tie the knot with his sweetheart Lydia Martin this coming weekend it has been announced that the film is a finalist in the best documentary category at The Pakistan International Film Festival and is set to be shown in North America next.
“Grain of Sand is off to Canada in September for a ‘mini-tour’, plus a possible showing at the Bahraini ambassador’s residence in Washington DC,” Jason told GulfWeekly, “then to Kazakhstan for the Almaty Film Festival.
“I will be attending as many screenings as I am able as it is great to meet the audience afterwards.”
Before taking to life behind the camera Jason was more at home in front of the lens and audiences performing harp guitar and classical guitar concerts in more than 100 countries.
“It is kind of odd because as a performer, the interaction with an audience was immediate, whereas as a film maker, it is months of work beforehand and the audience experiences it all in one go, with me as a participant. It’s very interesting!”
Grain of Sand was brought to life on the big screen at the Dubai Film Festival in an effort to shed light on the dying music of the pearl divers and ask poignant questions about identity, culture and heritage in a region that has experienced development at a pace previously deemed impossible.
It received critical acclaim with cultural activist and Huffington Post contributor E. Nina Rothe posting: ‘Jason Carter’s Grain of Sand is the soulful documentary the world needs right now’.
Jason, 49, had been planning a trip to the UAE to complete his work on his Grain of Sand film project and switched his focus almost two years ago to Bahrain … and he’s been here ever since as romance blossomed with Lydia, 43, the recently appointed director of performing and creative arts at the British School of Bahrain.
A mutual friend introduced them to one another online so that they could collaborate with research into traditional Fijeri songs.
Jason was living in France at the time so invited Lydia and her son, Xavier, six, to meet him near Avignon, as reported earlier in GulfWeekly.
“I guess it was kind of like a blind date as until that time we had only chatted online,” said Lydia. “We had a marvellous time and had such a great connection through music, creativity, our faith and more. We both knew God had brought us together.”
They have been busy in the South of France recently preparing the village property for their honeymoon. This week they travelled back to Jason’s English home county of Cornwall in time for Saturday’s wedding ceremony and a beach party.
“We’ve been renovating my house in France for future visits so have been busy plastering away,” said Jason. “The wedding plans are going well, it will be a very laid back affair.”
The Carters plan to settle down in Saar at the end of the summer holidays before Jason heads off on his Grain of Sands opening nights.
