Culture, costume and Carnival — Becoming a Queen Documentary Is A Caribbean Treasure for the community to remember history in the making

BY SELINA MCCALLUM

When people are on the road for Caribana, they see the glitter and glamour of the beautifully, overwhelming costumes, but the hard work that goes into designing, building, and performing can sometimes go unnoticed.

New award-winning documentary film written, directed, and produced by Chris Strikes follows the rise and legacy of Canada’s most decorated Caribbean Carnival Queen, Joella Crichton, as she aims to win a historic tenth title in her last ever competition. The documentary also explores expressions of cultural identity, Caribbean artistry, and a community’s struggle against a lack of understanding of Carnival in the larger society.

Strikes started documenting Crichton, her sister, and their mother in 2017.

“So, I filmed Joella and Mischka, and other performers performance at the 2017, King and Queen. And this was at a time where like, I had jokingly proposed the idea to Joella that, you know, we should tell her story because I thought that there was something special there, especially when you’re in her mom, Lou Ann’s, house and you see all the carnival memorabilia all over the walls. So, I was filming in 2017 with the sort of idea that like, we’d probably do this documentary,” said Strikes.

Crichton grew up in Scarborough, Ontario. She was a shy high school student who blossomed into a genuine star. She reminisces on her childhood as she felt a sort of belonging when preparing for mas.

“Being at the mas camp as a kid and being around other people who were the same culture as me and connecting with them, I really find that as an important aspect of childhood, especially for people whose parents are immigrants. Because it gives you a sense of belonging, and it gives you a sense of understanding of who you are outside of Canadian life,” said Crichton

“I’ve talked to people like during this film, and it’s brought back a lot of my feelings about, just at school, feeling Canadian, and then at home, feeling Caribbean.”

Strikes built on the backstory from Joella’s childhood and family background, but also the history of Carnival.

“It was important for me to not only tell Joella’s story, but also just tell like the history and the cultural significance of Carnival. I wanted this film to be accessible to a wider audience.” said Strikes. “Those historical elements were important for me, and even there’s people within the culture, who may not know the history that deep. For example, a friend of mine knows quite a bit about Carnival history, but she didn’t know that it went back as far as Egypt.”

The Caribbean tradition of parading through the street was founded in celebration of freedom and emancipation from slavery. The Toronto Caribbean Carnival or Caribana is one of the largest street festivals in North America and it attracts thousands of tourists every year leaving about half a million dollars to the economy of Toronto city.

Crichton helps keep the history alive in the minds of young people by teaching classes about Emancipation Day and the abolishment of slavery.

“People have to share and teach. I think it is up to people like me to make sure that all of our Caribbean descendants here in Canada have a background in the culture. If it’s being lost, that’s really hard to say, because, for example, I was at the junior Carnival, and I see lots of kids there. And they’re participating with their families, I think people are still participating in it but do those people all know, the history and the background.” said Crichton. “And that I feel is where maybe we need to focus so that people don’t lose the significance of the parade. So, I think the participation is continuing, but I don’t know if the importance of emancipation and freedom and the understanding of slavery and why this is so huge for Caribbean people is. I don’t know if that is remaining.”

The film also emphasizes and celebrates the intricate details that go into preparing for the competition and building the elaborate costumes; the history of the competition and Carnival in Toronto; Black and Caribbean-Canadian identity; and the fact that Caribbean communities do not hold the same narrow and exclusive standards of beauty as Europe and North America do.

“Everybody was just so confident, no matter what flag they’re waving, no matter where they came from, no matter what shade of skin color they had, no matter how big, how small, young, old, or mature, if you want to use that terminology. It’s just always so beautiful to me and I recognize Carnival as this safe space,” said the Director of Becoming a Queen.

This year, the parade celebrated its 55th anniversary after the pandemic forced cancellations in both 2020 and 2021. Strikes said that they finished filming before the pandemic hit, so the pandemic only gave him more time to edit the film and release it as the world was also opening up again.

Another event that came out of the pandemic was corporations and brands wanting to partner and support Black organizations, communities, and businesses due to the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020.

Adidas recently partnered with one of the most successful mas bands, Carnival Nationz. Crichton was in one of their promo videos that was advertised all over social media.

“They reached out to me, because of my history as Queen, which I thought was really cool. That was the most Black people I’ve worked with, and I had to mention it to them. I really appreciated that the girls who did my makeup, the girls who did my hair, the person who fit me for everything was Caribbean descent. It was really lovely to work with that much Black people on a set, and they wanted to focus on that.” said Crichton.

“I hope to see more of that from Adidas and other big-name brands and corporations as well, too. That would help to give a voice to the things that we’re talking about, like Carnival being fine art, Carnival being a safe space, and Carnival being diverse and for everybody. If these big brands can come on board and help us to communicate these messages, not just to our audience, but the wider audience as well, I think that’s really huge,” said Strikes.

Becoming a Queen is available to watch now on AppleTV, Google Play, and Youtube Premium. Visit Becoming A Queen for more information.