Documentary on Queen Nanny, Jamaica’s National Hero, on Indiegogo

Following in the footsteps of acclaimed filmmakers like Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, movie stuntman turned director, Roy T. Anderson has decided to go the crowdfunding route to help finance his latest project: a one-hour documentary film, Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess. Queen Nanny was the indomitable leader of the Jamaican Maroons, and Jamaica’s only female National Hero.

Anderson’s impressive début film Akwantu: the Journey, on the history of the Jamaican Maroons, a self-funded effort, has screened on three continents, winning several prestigious awards in the process. This has encouraged Anderson to start working on his second film, which will expand on the story of the New World’s first successful freedom fighters by shedding light on one of the leading figures in that struggle, Queen Nanny – and he is looking to Indiego.com for help.

Indiegogo, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform has a major appeal to budding filmmakers like Roy because of its flexible option that allow campaign owners to keep all the contributions they receive even if they don’t reach their goal. And so Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess launched on Monday, December 16, 2013 on Indiegogo, with a modest goal of $50,000.

Queen Nanny will begin shooting in 2014 in Jamaica and Ghana. As the producers continue to look for additional funding, they have taken to Indiegogo as a way to ‘spread the word’ and solicit contributions. In return they are offering contributors and supporters perks such as tickets to the première of the film, exclusive private screenings, autographed DVDs, and much more.

About Queen Nanny, the film

She was a queen, captured in her homeland, forcefully transported across the Atlantic Ocean in the belly of a slave ship. In the New

World, she would eventually rise up to become the leader of a new nation.

However, not many people outside of Jamaica know of the Legendary “Nanny,” warrior chieftainess of the Jamaican Maroons, one of the most celebrated, but least recognized heroines in the resistance history of the New World. Most of what we know about Queen Nanny comes through Maroon oral tales and folklore, and not much is written about her in historical texts. So who was this herbal healer, prophetess, and Asante Warrior Queen?

Conceived by Anderson and Georgia State University History Professor Harcourt T. Fuller, this landmark one-hour documentary film, will unearth and examine this mysterious figure that is Queen Nanny of the Maroons. Queen Nanny will document the struggle for freedom of the Jamaican Maroons, which was led by the indomitable military genius “Nana” Queen Nanny, a spiritual leader, skilled in the use of herbs and “guerilla tactics.” From her mountain stronghold at the source of the Stony River in the Blue Mountains, she directed the warfare that effectively neutralized the vaunted British firepower.

The film will be shot in Jamaica, Ghana, the United Kingdom, and the United States starting in 2014, and will feature interviews with 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 will be told through songs, performances, poetry, and a series of reenactments. One of the highlights of the filming will be a three-day trek to the rugged hills of Old Nanny Town in the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica. Legend has it that only the bravest Maroons or those “free of bad deeds” can safely venture up to this sacred spot where Nanny’s powerful spirit still inhabits.

Nanny symbolizes the pride of today’s Caribbean woman. This film will also look at her legacy and impact on contemporary Maroon and Jamaican women in general, such its current Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, Olympic sprint champion Shelley Ann Fraser-Pryce, and many others. This documentary will also serve as a prelude to the dramatic telling of the epic story of this larger than life iconic figure.

For more information, visit Nanny, the Movie, and on Facebook, Twitter, and the campaign page on Indiegogo. 

About Queen Nanny Director | Roy T. Anderson

Roy T. Anderson is writer, director and producer of the award-winning film Akwantu: the Journey (Action 4 Reel Flimworks,

2012), on the history of the Jamaican Maroons. This film, which has screened on three continents to rave reviews, was one hundred percent self-funded.

Queen Nanny, Roy’s sophomore film, will expand on the story of the New World’s first successful freedom fighters by shedding light on one of the leading figures in that struggle.

Anderson is a veteran stuntman/stunt coordinator and world record holder. He’s doubled for such Hollywood stars as, Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Jamie Foxx, accumulating more than 400 production credits in the process. He has worked on such hits as Men in Black 3, The Dark Knight Rises, Spiderman 2, Bourne Ultimatum, and American Gangster, and the highly anticipated, Wolf of Wall Street.

While continuing his stunt work, Anderson has flipped the script to direct his second film. During his storied career, Anderson has shown the ability to be very creative in his performance and coordination of difficult stunts, and brings this same imagination to the table as a young director who has observed some of the top filmmakers in the world.