Kareem Mortimer Quotes

Documentaries were necessary for my growth as a person. I grew up very sheltered and it was a form of expressing myself.

The best part of writing is thinking about the story. And then everything else takes a lot of discipline.

I made Children of God because I had to make it. And with Cargo, I also felt like I had to. The impulse comes from something deep inside. Wanting to my country to be better. Because of where we are, we don't always have spaces to reflect.

I think I want the best for my country. I can make work that makes us examine some truths about ourselves - that would be more of a contribution. That's how I see it.

The Bahamas has a lot to say about the issues that affect it - the specific issues that also affect other communities. It offers a unique level of looking at, of entering a story. It's just like a mini-world.

The Bahamas is a small population. But it plays a lot bigger than the population suggests. You feel close to everything. Everything that happens in the wider world happens here. Like migration issues. Or refugee issues. Or homophobia.

If Cargo is a catalyst to spark policy, that would be great. The more we're able to use it as an educational tool, the more it's a building block in youths' minds and peoples' minds to enact policy.

I think that people always get what they deserve - whether you're around to see it or not.

I know where the people are and I know how talented people are. Sometimes they aren't given opportunities because people come with their own biases about what Bahamians can do, especially if they're foreign productions.

I thought back to a childhood memory: the first dead body I'd ever seen was the body of an immigrant washed up on shore. I went back to that memory. As a child, you can't process these types of images in a healthy way. I don't think anyone can, really. So I explored that. These people were buried in mass graves. I don't know if their families ever heard from them again.

When I write, I actually hear the characters speak. Almost like an actor - even though I'm not an actor at all - getting into their truth and to justify what they do.