Home | Beacon Farms

Beacon Farms premiered at Camana Bay in the Cayman Islands on 8th February 2023 and continued to be screened weekly through to May 2023. After the award season further screenings took place at Caman Bay cinema during February and March 2024.

Private screenings can be arranged, please contact candywhicker@hotmail.com

For further information about Beacon Farms please visit their website www.beaconfarmscayman.org

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Trailer

About

About the
Film

Beacon Farms is a documentary which follows the trials and tribulations of an experimental farm based in North Side, Grand Cayman which employs people in recovery from substance abuse. The film follows the team for three years as they learn new skills, experiment with innovative farming techniques and rebuild their lives as they break new ground in agriculture in the Cayman Islands.

Visit Beacon Farms

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Statement

Directors Statement

I first heard about Beacon Farms in early 2019 and loved the idea of a once derelict property being

brought back to life and 34 acres of bush being transformed into an organic working farm whilst

retaining aspects of the wilderness as a haven for the flora and fauna of Cayman.

I had suggested to Sandy that he should somehow record the story of the properties’ transformation

and he tossed the ball right back to me and asked me to film it. The original ‘year in the life…’ idea

became 3 years, once Covid had entered the equation, and during that time the team became more

and more used to the sight of me running around the farm lugging a camera and asking them lots of

irritating questions. It would have been impossible to capture all the many things that happened in

those 3 years, but I hope this film shows how much hard work, innovation, kindness and money has

gone into creating something quite remarkable.

Candy Whicker, Director

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Creators

Producer and Director

Candy Whicker

Candy has always enjoyed telling stories and loves the medium of film, so after 20 years as an investment banker in London and the Cayman Islands she decided to embark on a second career in the world of documentary film. In October 2015 she enrolled in a Documentary Film Course at the Met Film School at Ealing Studios in London. Since then she has worked independently on a couple of short film projects, including a short biography about the life and work of local artist David Bridgeman. Most recently she was Associate Producer on a feature length Cayman made documentary ‘The Great Disconnect’ which premiered in Cayman in October 2019 and has since won awards on the international film circuit.

Creative Consultant

Tamer Soliman

Tamer Soliman is an award-winning Producer and Director in the documentary film space. His company, ‘March Forth Creative’ (co-founded with his partner Sarah Douglas), specializes in the production of non-fiction films/media and educational resources. Tamer's current documentary project is titled ‘Farming: The Next Generation’ and is scheduled to be released in Fall of 2023.

Story Editor and Creative Consultant

Sarah Douglas

Sarah draws on her unique background in education and the arts to produce, write and story-edit documentaries and other non-fiction content. Sarah gets involved in all aspects of the production - developing ideas, producing and editing footage and organizing the content - in order to ensure a cohesive, inspiring and thought-provoking message is communicated.

Editor, Story Editor and Narrator

Freddie Rostand

Freddie spent 20 years as senior journalist with BBC TV News and Documentaries. He is BBC trained as an editor and cameraman in addition to his journalism skills. Freddie now runs his own production company in the UK, working with a wide range of public and private sector clients and domestic and international broadcasters. Freddie is passionate about story telling.

Cinematography and creative consultant

Greg Lipton

Greg is a Canadian/Caymanian artist. He has created art for local galleries since 2007. His local art can be found in the permanent collection of the Cayman Islands National Museum. Since 2014 Greg has been contracted to create licensed artwork for Disney/Lucasfilm. His Star Wars art can be found in Disney parks and many online galleries. Greg also has a passion for filmmaking and movies in general.

Creative Consultant

Julia Baker

Julia has remained passionate about cinema since studying film at Glasgow University many years ago. The Beacon Farm project has been an enjoyable way for her to reconnect with the medium whilst learning more about this invaluable social enterprise. It is her hope that the film raises awareness and support to ensure their continued growth.

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