Caribbean Camera: Hero waits for the bus to arrive
Nickolai Salcedo readies to climb aboard the world stage for his role in the
new Trini-Canadian flick
By Stephen Weir
It is not just actor Nickolai
Salcedo who is waiting for a bus to arrive. It is the whole cast and crew of the new
Canadian / Trinidadian movie, Hero, that are anxiously wondering when and where their
soon-to-be previewed film is going to take them.
Salcedo plays Ulric Cross, the famed
Trinidadian World War II airman. The Hero is a full-length docudrama that tells
the story of the life and times of Cross. He was squadron leader for the Brits and
went on after the War to become a jurist and diplomat. His life spanned key
events of the 20th Century when independent African and Caribbean nations came
of age.
It is all going to happen quickly. Next week, at the September 5th
gala kick-off of Toronto’s Caribbean Tales Film Festival, Hero will be shown
for the very first time.
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| Salcedo in Bloor St West coffee shop |
“I
am ready to go where-ever Hero takes us, my bags are packed,” Salcedo told the
Caribbean Camera. “We have the preview here
in Canada at the Royal Cinema, and then we are off to Port of Spain for the
opening of the Trinidad Film Festival on September 18th. We will have a couple
of showings in Trinidad after that.”
“ You know what Hero has taught me? It pays
to cut your hair sometimes, even though losing the locks is an Existentialist experience!” he continued.
“It was 2013 and I was busy busy on stage as an actor and in bars and at
festivals as a musician. It was
suggested that I audition for two films that Francis-Ann Solomon (director of
Hero and head of the Toronto Caribbean Tales Festival) was already putting together. I auditioned for one but didn’t bother with
Hero because of my hair – Dreadlocks and a World War 2 role don’t mix.”
“I cut them off in 2014 and I got the call
– why don’t you come in for an audition,” Salcedo explained at an interview in
a Bloor Street West coffee shop earlier this week. “One audition lead to two more – including
one in front of an audience – and then I got the call from Francis. Next thing
I knew we were off to England and Ghana to begin filming Hero.”
This is not the first celluloid rodeo for
the 37 year old. He has had roles in
four Trinidadian movies including two award winning 2017 films Moving Parts and
Moko Jumbie. However, Caribbean films
typically do not pay well, so this is his first “bigger budget” international
feature.
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| Scene from Hero - Lancaster bomber |
In addition to filming in England, Africa
and Trinidad, much of the technical work has and is being done in Toronto. Only days before the first screening he is
still involved with the final production edits of Heroes. In fact when the
Camera interview ended Salcedo left to meet up with his director to continue
their work.
Although Hero has been all consuming he has
not given up his other artistic lifetime pursuits – theatre, painting and
music. The former visual art teacher
took up playing the guitar to reach his students. Soon he was playing in a band
he named Gyazette, after the Trinidad daily newspaper. Since 2007 Gyazette has been performing a
blend of reggae, calypso, funk and rock throughout the Caribbean.
He and his wife of two-weeks, singer Dahlia Fernandez, have been staying in Mississauga while the film is in post production. He still has strong ties to Gyazette and plans to perform in Trinidad after the premier
of Hero. He also has two Trinidadian bandmates here in Canada – Sheldon
Holder and Dason Johnson who have regular gigs throughout the GTA.
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| Hero was shot in Trinidad, UL and Africa |
He and his new wife are also talking about performing together soon. Known simply as DAHLIA, the winner of the “Best Singer-Songwriter" at the Toronto Independent Music Awards has just released Shift, an alternative-indie-pop EP.
And
will they tour Trinidad? “ Why not? My wife is from
India but she is probably more Trini than I am, “ laughs Nickolai Salcedo. “ And in many ways I am more Indian than
she!”
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