A Pioneer of Jamaican Film: A Conversation with Raymond Edwards

Raymond "Bubbles" Edwards is a trailblazing cameraman, director of photography, casting director, loader, and educator with over fifty years of service to the Jamaican film industry. He has worked with global filmmakers on some of the largest film and television productions shot in Jamaica since the 1970s and witnessed firsthand the growth of the audiovisual sector in the Caribbean. Edwards's journey to film was inspired by his childhood viewing of The Harder They Come (dir. Perry Henzell, 1972, Jamaica). As destiny would have it, he became a lifelong colleague and friend to Caribbean filmmaker Franklyn St. Juste and Jamaican actor Carl Bradshaw, who both worked on the iconic film. In this interview Edwards tells his story, which spans his introduction to film production, key moments in his stellar career, along with a critique of the Jamaican film industry and the challenges to overcome for its sustained development in the future.