New York, January 15, 2016 – The legendary Nanny of the Maroons is Jamaica’s only female National Heroine. She was an eighteenth-century, African warrior Queen who led a band of former enslaved Africans in the mountains of Jamaica to a decisive victory over the mighty British army. Despite all this acclaim, Queen Nanny remains a mystery. Her name is mentioned only four times in textbooks. And so most of what we know about her comes through oral tales and legends.

Conceived by veteran movie stuntman and award-winning filmmaker, Roy T. Anderson and History Professor Harcourt T. Fuller, PhD, this landmark, one-hour, documentary film will unearth and examine this mysterious figure that is Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess.

Sponsored by the Jamaica Cultural Alliance (JCA), a Los Angeles 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Queen Nanny will have its West Coast Premiere as an official selection of the 24th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival on Saturday, February 6, 2016 @ 7 pm, at the Rave Cinemas Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza 15 in Los Angeles, CA. A private, invitation-only reception will precede the film’s showing. Queen Nanny had a very successful World Premiere screening on October 19, 2015 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, as part of the 2015 Remember Slavery Programme of Activities along with screenings of such films as Selma and Book of Negroes (BET). The World Premiere also drew attention to the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). The United Nations is also is considering the film as part of their educational outreach for Slavery Remembrance Day, to be observed Friday, March 25, 2016.

Queen Nanny was filmed in Jamaica, Ghana, Canada, and the United States over the course of two years, and include interviews with Maroons and scholars who are experts in Caribbean history and the study of slavery. As we seek to uncover the history and legacy of Queen Nanny, her intriguing story is told through songs, performances, and a series of reenactments.

This film also looks at Queen Nanny’s legacy and impact on contemporary women in general, with interviews featuring, among others: Jamaica’s current Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller; double Olympic and World Champion sprinter Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce; the “Queen of Reggae” Rita Marley; U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke; University Professors Verene Shepherd and Linda Heywood. View YouTube teaser at https://www.youtube.com/embed/nF_Os_yW-D4.

References

• http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/world-premiere-screening-of-the-film-queen-nanny-legendary-maroon-chieftainess-a-film-by-roy-t.-anderson/4568356900001#full-text
• https://www.facebook.com/nannythemovie/photos/a.178001559066551.1073741828.175271829339524/434110663455638/?type=3&theater
• http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/note6455.doc.htm
• http://jamaicans.com/queen-nanny-maroon-director-roy-anderson/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-thornleybrown/filmmakers-jeremy-whittak_b_8275314.html
• http://www.lapiduscenter.org/archives/14
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Queen-Nanny-comes-to-life_19235565

Purchase Tickets here

Matthew Alexander Gooden is college bound freshman with highly rated “academic”, “athletic” and “artistic” talents. He will attend the Frank R. Seaver College of Science & Engineering at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Fall 2015. Matthew is the eldest son of Lisa Maree Campbell Gooden, Esq. and Gary Anthony Gooden – Jamaican nationals (and naturalized US citizens). He was born (April 22, 1997) and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he resides with Lisa, Gary and younger teenage brother, Marcus.

Matthew graduated June 5, 2015 from Harvard Westlake School, a top 20 nationally ranked college prep school. A recipient of academic and athletic scholarships from LMU – Matthew’s current goal is to strive academically and Orchestra, Tuba obtain a civil engineering degree, play at the highest level of competitive college soccer, as well as potentially play professionally. Matthew is also a talented artist- both visual and musical – and enjoys music production. His musical repertoire can be found online on SoundCloud (soundcloud.com, Search “Emzhi”).

He is very focused both in and outside of school. He commenced playing soccer (AYSO), baseball and basketball at age 4, ultimately focusing on soccer at the competitive “Club” level (Coast Soccer League) at age 8, then the more competitive “pre-Academy” level at age 14, and onto the elite “Academy” level at age 15. Matthew started Taekwondo at age 5, attained his 1st Dan (1st degree black belt) in 5 years, at age 10, and then his 2nd DAN (2nd degree black belt) at age 14. While in 6th grade at the St. James Episcopal School and well on his way to being a well-rounded student athlete with top ISEE scores, Matthew was accepted into all of the 5 independent schools (Buckley, Windward, Oakwood, Campbell Hall and Harvard Westlake) to which he had applied for middle school (7th grade). While at HW (middle and high school) he exceled in Track and Field, setting and holding the high school record for the 330 meter hurdles, and played Varsity high school soccer as a freshman and sophomore (while still also playing at Club and then pre-Academy levels outside of high school). Top scorer for HW during the 2012/13 CIF season, he was also awarded top soccer player for the school as well as being “All Conference First Team CIF”. However it was his hard work, and talent as soccer player in the elite US Soccer “Academy” level outside of high school, that provided him the opportunity to play not just on the US West and East Coasts, but also internationally at the annual Dale Farm Milk Cup in Northern Ireland (UK) in 2012 and 2014. Matthew’s academic profile from a top 20 nationally ranked college prep school and his achievements as an elite US “Academy” level player, meant that by the time he was a high school junior he was a well-rounded student athlete being closely reviewed by over 25 coaches from Division 1 colleges and universities, ultimately verbally committing to LMU before the Fall semester of his senior year.

Personal Soccer Accomplishments

• 1997 Boys ODP Summer Pool 2010 (U13)
• Invited by US Soccer Federation to attend US National Training Days for B97 kids in May 2011
• Milk Cup 2012 (Northern Ireland) – Vase Champions
• SCDSL – U16 – Flight One Champions
• Harvard Westlake High School – Athlete of the month, January 2013
• CIF: 2013 Mission League: All League First Team
• Harvard Westlake High School – 2012-13 Varsity Boys Soccer “Most Valuable Player” of the season
• 2013/14 US Soccer Development Academy Season: Third highest scorer for the Strikers FC U16 Academy team
  http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/60852305/47187210-60852392/TEAM.html
• 2014 Dale Farm NI Milk Cup – Top Goal scorer for the OC Blues.

10th Grade Art by Matthew A. Gooden

Self-Portrait based on Van Gogh’s “The Night Café in Place Lamartine in Arles”, Hand Morphing into a Squid

Tae Kwan Do

• 1st Dan 2007, 2nd Dan 2010, 2nd Dan 2014