'The Annihilation of Fish' for Jamaican premiere By Barbara Ellington, Staff Reporter "HE'S A national treasure. Tony writes the best scripts," said producer Paul Heller of writer Anthony Winkler, writer of the movie The Annihilation of Fish,which is set to have its world premiere at Island Cinema in New Kingston, tonight. A number of Hollywood celebrities are expected to arrive in Jamaica for the prestigious event. The movie is being put on by the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS), now in its 60th year, to raise funds for its projects. Among those slated to attend the premiere are the movie's producer, Paul Heller, whose 47 movie credits include the Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon; Charles Burnett, director, Anthony Winkler, who fans will remember for the movie 'The Lunatic' and actress Sheryl Lee Ralph. Asked about fears of travelling to Jamaica following the September 11 terrorist attack on America, Mr. Heller told The Gleaner, "I'm a fatalist, if I don't get it on a plane, I'll get it somewhere else, I don't waste time wondering about those things during a flight." Mr. Winkler said. During the interviews with Mr. Winkler and Mr. Heller, The Gleaner learned that The Annhilation of Fish began as a short story in 1975 prior to the writer's return to Jamaica. "It sat around because no publisher wanted to take it on and in 1991, during filming of The Lunatic, Paul (Heller) told me that the best time to get a second movie going is when the first is under way," Mr. Winkler said. The subject of The Annihilation of Fish came up. Dis-cussions followed and Mr. Winkler completed the screen-play in three weeks. But it was not made till 1999 because the backers wanted to choose the distributors carefully to coincide so that they could arrange to have the best timing for the publicity campaign. Mr. Winkler said small projects like The Annihilation of Fish, which was made on a US$2 million budget, are vulnerable to the blockbuster mentality. "We cannot release it in the summer nor winter so we have to aim for a fall release." Since completion, the movie has enjoyed critical acclaim and won some awards at film festivals in Sarasota, Toronto, Santa Barbara, Mexico, Palm Springs, Sliver Lake, San Diego, Austin in Texas and Hawaii. "It's a favourite with audiences and Lynn Redgrave received a three-minute standing ovation," the producer said. The gala premiere will take place in Los Angeles on October 24, followed by the general release on November 2. The Los Angeles opening night proceeds will benefit the Hearst Castle Pre-servation Foun-dation. The movie was filmed in Echo Park Studios in Hollywood. The Annihilation of Fish has a star-studded cast of characters who loved the script so much, they agreed to work for Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) minimum wage rates. "Everyone including the production team took lower fees," Mr. Winkler said. The movie also generated the interest of actors Gene Wilder and Anne Bancroft. But in the end, the lead roles went to James Earl Jones, Lynn Redgrave and Margot Kidder. Mr. Heller is currently working on another movie to be filmed in small-town America and Winkler told The Gleaner that last Thursday he completed his new script Drumsticks, set in World War II England.
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