Mas Fever: Inside Trinidad Carnival

Produced by Glenn Micallef. 55 min. Color. 1996. Available as: VHS and DVD Captioned: No Catalog #: 0126 Order this title Sale Price: $225.00 Apply for Discount

Carnival in the New World is a synthesis of European elements -- Christian traditions and the masquerade -- and African elements -- primarily music and dance. In Trinidad, Carnival is a colorful, exuberant celebration of national focus and pride. Preparations are made throughout the year and reach a frantic pace just before Carnival begins.

This informative and thoroughly enjoyable documentary goes behind the scenes to capture the spirit of the celebration and explore its major events and aspects. The video features sequences on the history and culture of steel drum and calypso music and comes with a printed glossary of Trinidad Carnival terms.

"Mas Fever" is a timeless and essential work for all classes dealing with the African diaspora, cultural anthropology, Caribbean or Latin American studies, comparative religion, or ethnomusicology.

It was produced by Glenn Micallef.

Reviews

“A lastingly artful presentation of the buzzing confusion and profundity of Carnival. The interviews are illuminating and the steel music, always difficult to capture on tape, comes through majestically. The video offers a rare glimpse of the human spirit liberated from the chains of everyday decorum, at home in the company of dancing gods.” — The Beat (Journal of World Music)

Awards

• Official Video of the Smithsonian Institution’s “Caribbean Festival Arts” International Touring Exhibition
• African Studies Assn. honoree
• American Anthropological Assn. selection
• Society for Visual Anthropology selection

Credits

Produced and Directed by Glenn Micallef
Principal Photography and Editing by Lawrence Johnson