Aleisi // Rijst
At the edge of the Amazon in Suriname, a woman cultivates one of the rarest rices in the world. While researchers wonder if her rice could help other farmers adapt to climate changes, Albertina brings forth her cultural relationship with the aleisi.
Twin sisters holding a bunch of rice in front of their mother’s kitchen.
At a glance
Project scope: 15-35 minute artistic documentary film
Target premiere date: Late Oct - Early Nov 2025
Fundraising goal: TBD
This project is currently in post-production.
Synopsis: Aleisi // Rijst
At the edge of the Amazon in Suriname, a woman cultivates one of the rarest rices in the world. While researchers wonder if her rice could help other farmers adapt to climate changes, Albertina brings forth her cultural relationship with the aleisi.
300 years ago, a young woman from West Africa liberated herself from slavery in Suriname.
Other women on the plantation braided grains of rice into Ma Paanza’s hair before she and her husband – Adyako – fled into the forest. When Ma Paanza and Adyako reached the safety of the Amazon, they cultivated the rice.
Today, not far downstream from where Ma Paanza found refuge, there is a woman who protects the rice that Ma Paanza planted centuries ago.
Tall trees watch over Albertina’s farm. The sun rises in Brokopondo as her three young children help her put on her rubber boots before she goes to the field. Albertina knew that her rice was special – a descendant of Ma Paanza’s rice – but it wasn’t until researchers analyzed specimens from her plot that she began to understand how precious these rices were.
Albertina and the trees were protecting some of the rarest rices in the world.
On the other side of Suriname in Nickerie, there’s a seed bank at ADRON, the country’s rice research institute. Researchers study the rice samples found throughout the country, including those from Albertina’s plot. They’re searching for a variety of rice that is more resilient to climate change, saltier water, and a fungi preying on the commercial rice cultivated throughout the region.
Will Ma Paanza’s // Albertina’s dry land aleisi get them closer to what they’re seeking?
Suriname is culturally and ecologically beautiful, and like many other societies (and most other colonies), its people continue to grapple with what it means to be “Surinamese.” In Aleisi // Rijst, the comparison between the rice in Nickerie and Brokopondo symbolizes that quest of identity.
Albertina Adyako looking out over her plot.
Project stages and timeline
The current stage(s) in bold type.
Pre-production: Oct 2023 - May 2024
Production: Aug 2024
Post-production: Feb 2025 - Jun 2025
Premiere: Late Oct - Early Nov 2025
Distribution: Jan 2026+
Artistic approach
Aleisi // Rijst will be a short documentary film with a total runtime of 15 - 35 minutes that will include the following creative elements:
Classic follow-me documentary filmmaking
Classic documentary interview setups
Experimental artistic interpretation using collages and animation
Full custom musical score
We hope to feature an element of hair art in the film and at the premiere.
Courtesy of The Folklore Group.
Premiere
We hope to premiere this film in Paramaribo, Suriname, in late October 2025 or early November. The premiere will be in collaboration with the Social Media Conference Suriname, hosted by INEFFABLE NV. It’s very important that the subjects and contributors of the film are in attendance.
Distribution & intended social impact
We will begin with local distribution. We would like this film to be screened in Albertina’s community before being screened anywhere else. Details TBD.
We will follow the premiere and screenings in Suriname with screenings in places with notable Surinamese diaspora: Netherlands and parts of the United States.
While these screenings take place, we will be submitting the film to several film festivals before submitting it for SVOD distribution.
The intended social impact of this project has two stages to it. First, at the premiere, we would like to present both Albertina and ADRON with financial contributions. These contributions further ADRON’s research into resilient rice, and funds Albertina’s efforts to organize women cultivators around Ma Paanza’s rice.
Budget & fundraising
The budget for the post-production and distribution of this film are TBD. To learn more about how to contribute to this project, please contact me here.
Characters & creators of Aleisi // Rijst
Javan and Shellen filming Albertina in her plot.
Main characters
Albertina Adyako
A mother, wife, farmer, and cultural advocate cultivating fruits and dry land rice.
Yves Diran
Leader of the Crop Management Program at ADRON, Suriname’s rice research institute.
Key creatives
Javan, Jair, and Shellen resting after a day in the field.
Shellen Arga
Co-director & Co-producer
Shellen is a Surinamese filmmaker currently studying in Belgium.
Jair Kertodikromo (left)
Javan Martokarijo (right)
Camera Operator & Director of Photography (respectively)
Jair & Javan are multi-disciplinary creators based in Suriname.
Jean-luc van Charante
Executive Producer
Jean-luc is the founder of INEFFABLE NV and a community leader based in Suriname.
Jay W. Austin
Co-director, Co-producer, & Writer
I’m a documentarian currently creating out of Atlanta, Georgia.
A note from Jay
Suriname is a beautiful, warm place.
I’ve visited every year for several years now (except for 2020), and on one of my recent visits, I approached Jean-luc with an intention to make a Surinamese film.
He was down.
While I’m many things, I’m not Surinamese. To make a Surinamese film would require Surinamese crew who bring themselves to a Surinamese story. My hope was not to make a film about Suriname, as much as it was to make a story from Suriname, of Suriname. To accomplish that, the initial team and I felt that we should tap into the Surinamese diaspora to create the film, and to find a story that might include that diaspora in some way.
Rice gave us that storyline.
People have been “brought” to Suriname by colonial powers for hundreds of years, and their descendants now make up nearly the entire population of the country. Africans were kidnapped and trafficked from their lands. The Hindustani and Javanese were deceived and indentured, similar to many of the Chinese to this very day.
Other than arriving to Suriname in order to work, one thing these peoples share with each other was a staple food: rice. And this happens to be something that was not shared with their colonizers.
Rice gave us an opportunity to approach an important question that sometimes remains unanswered in the hearts and minds of my friends in SU: What does it really mean to be Surinamese?
Thanks to all the people who have supported this project already. If you would like to know how you can contribute to the project, please contact me here.