Ten-Cent Daisy

Last updated
Ten-Cent Daisy
Ten-cent daisy poster.jpg
Directed byLisbon Okafor
Written by
  • Cheryl Latouche
  • Obieze Okafor
Produced by
  • Dominique Johnson
  • Lisbon Okafor
Edited byAristides Zamora
Music byKomica Purnell
Production
company
Ohaoma Productions
Release date
  • October 28, 2022 (2022-10-28)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ten-Cent Daisy: A Lost Mermaid Tale is a 2021 American fantasy drama film by Lisbon Okafor. It follows three sisters who are summoned back to their home in the West Indies, but must first reconcile with each other and protect vulnerable youngest sister Daisy, who is secretly a mermaid. [1]

Contents

Plot

Three sisters, Orchid, Violet, and Daisy, who fled their childhood home in the Caribbean West Indies, now live in California and are semi-estranged. Violet is Daisy's caretaker, while Orchid is raising Daisy's eleven-year-old daughter Zara. Unbeknownst to the others, Daisy is in contact with Zara.

Orchid is shocked by a phone call from a retired police inspector, Albert Leonce. The sisters’ mother, Iris, has been in prison back home for the murder of Pastor John Patrick, a man accused of raping Daisy when she was a child. She is now free due to the efforts of Orchid's lawyers, but is in ill health. Orchid prepares to take her family home. Meanwhile, Violet drops Daisy off at her cleaning job at a photography studio. Daisy finds the owner, Otis, passed out under a table. She touches him, waking him up. He tries to make conversation, but she is unresponsive and then leaves. When Violet arrives and can't find her, she argues with Otis. Otis, a photographer who's losing his sight, is fascinated by Daisy.

Daisy has gone to see Zara at school. Orchid arrives to find them together and is amazed. Daisy runs away, but Orchid catches up and tells her the news that it's time to return home. After getting a call from Orchid and hanging up on her, Violet goes to the home of longtime family friend Meera. Meera is working with Inspector Leonce and has filled a pool in her backyard with imported saltwater, supposedly for a new species of exotic fish. Although seemingly helpful, she has motives of her own, and begins threatening Violet and demanding that she bring Daisy to her.

Orchid tells Zara their family's story. The sisters’ mother, Iris, found the infant Daisy alone in a boat on the seashore. She raised her as her own, but the local pastor John Patrick called her a spirit child and led the town to shun her. As Daisy grew older, rumors spread of a siren who bathed at night. When she was a teenager, Pastor John raped her; Iris went to prison for his murder, while the three sisters fled to California. The night after Daisy gave birth to Zara, she ran away. These events drove a wedge between the older sisters, and eventually Violet left while Orchid raised Zara.

Violet returns to Otis's studio to apologize and ask for help; she's ready to join Orchid. However, Meera's men force their way into the studio and demand to know where Daisy is. They get Orchid's address from Violet's phone. After they leave, Otis realizes that his eyesight has improved, and Violet reveals that Daisy has healing powers.

Meera's men arrive at Orchid's home, threatening the family. Leonce explains that he never believed Iris killed John Patrick, but that she was covering for Daisy. Daisy goes with them to Meera's home. Meera greets her by the saltwater pool and reveals that she is actually a mermaid and Daisy's mother; their kind always leave their daughters to be raised by another, as Daisy did with Zara. Meera feels responsible for Daisy's fate, and was the one who murdered the pastor in revenge. Iris confessed to protect Meera, while Meera arranged for the three girls to leave. She explains that Daisy's sisters want to take her back to heal the dying Iris, but claims that Iris serves no more purpose. She gets into the pool, where she transforms into a mermaid. She urges Daisy to join her and abandon her mortal family. Daisy's family arrives looking for her, and she turns away from Meera and runs to them. As Daisy embraces her sisters and daughter, Meera apparently dissolves, leaving the pool empty. The film ends on a shot of Daisy and Zara walking together through the trees towards the waters of the Caribbean, and briefly shows their mermaid tails as they swim out to sea.

Cast

Production

The story was inspired by Lisbon Okafor's visit to Grenada in 2001 for his mother-in-law's funeral, where he learned of a local girl shunned for being different, and by memories of his village in eastern Nigeria where a girl with Down syndrome was similarly bullied. [2] The original script written in 2003 was about a family returning home to bury their matriarch, and Okafor added supernatural elements while telling his daughter myth-inspired versions of the story involving mermaids. Some mythological aspects were added in post-production, which was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Okafor expressed interest in filming a prequel. [3]

Funds for post-production were raised through Kickstarter, and the film drew attention for its depiction of Black mermaids. [4] Filming took place in Oakland and Sebastopol, Berkeley and the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies. The film premiered on October 2, 2021, at the Urbanworld Film Festival and was screened at the online American Black Film Festival from November 3 to 14, 2021. [5]

Reception

The film was nominated for Best Narrative Feature and Best Director in the American Black Film Festival.

Black Girl Nerds' Stacey Yvonne found the film engaging although occasionally confusing with the number of subplots, praised the performances of Lauren Michelle and Ameenah Kaplan, and stated that the film is "worth a viewing if you’re a fan of modernized retellings of African myths." [6] Danielle Kessler of Spectrum Culture graded it at 79%, praising its exploration of generational trauma. [7]

The film has been noted by scholars for depicting Black mermaids, and has been compared to modern examinations of Mami Wata spirits and works such as Gabrielle Tesfaye's stop-motion film The Water Will Carry Us Home (2018) and Drexciya's music, which depict pregnant West African women lost at sea during the Middle Passage becoming mermaid-like spirits. [8] Ten-Cent Daisy also makes reference to the Middle Passage.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daisy and Violet Hilton</span> U.S. based British conjoined performing twins

Daisy and Violet Hilton were English-born entertainers, who were conjoined twins. They were exhibited in Europe as children, and toured the United States sideshow, vaudeville and American burlesque circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. They were best known for their film appearances in Freaks and the biographic Chained for Life (1951).

Carré Brennan Otis is an American model and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mami Wata</span> African water spirit

Mami Wata is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa and in the Afro-American diaspora. Mami Wata spirits are usually female but are sometimes male.

<i>Salakhain</i> 2004 Pakistani film

Salakhain is a Pakistani Lollywood film which was released in 2004. Stars included Ahmed Butt, Zara Sheikh and Meera. The music was composed by M Arshad. Sajid Hassan and Saud were cast as villains with Shafi Muhammad as their boss.

Ariel (<i>The Little Mermaid</i>) Fictional character from Disneys 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid

Ariel is a fictional character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film The Little Mermaid (1989). Ariel is voiced by Jodi Benson in all official animated appearances. Ariel is the youngest daughter of King Triton and Queen Athena of an underwater kingdom of merfolk called Atlantica. She is often rebellious, and in the first film, she longs to be a part of the human world. She marries Prince Eric, whom she rescued from a shipwreck, and together they have a daughter, Melody. She is the fourth Disney Princess and also the first Disney Princess to be developed during the Disney Renaissance.

<i>Poison Ivy: The New Seduction</i> 1997 film by Kurt Voss

Poison Ivy: The New Seduction is a 1997 American direct-to-video erotic thriller drama film directed by Kurt Voss and stars Jaime Pressly. It is a sequel to the 1996 film Poison Ivy II: Lily and the third installment of the Poison Ivy film series.

<i>H<sub>2</sub>O: Just Add Water</i> Australian childrens television show

H2O: Just Add Water, also known as H2O, is an Australian fantasy children and teen drama TV show created by Jonathan M. Shiff. It first screened on Australia's Network Ten and as of 2009 ran in syndication in over 120 countries with a worldwide audience of more than 250 million. It was filmed on location at Sea World and other locations on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The show revolves around three teenage girls facing everyday teen problems with an added twist: they become mermaids with unique, supernatural powers over water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daisy Wood</span>

Daisy Violet Rose Wood, was an English music hall singer.

<i>Hans Christian Andersens The Little Mermaid</i> (1975 film) 1975 film

Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is a Japanese anime film based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale, released in 1975 by Toei Animation. Unlike the Disney adaptation released 14 years later, this film is closer to Andersen's story, notably in its preservation of the original and tragic ending. The two main protagonists are the youngest daughter of the royal family, Marina, and her best friend Fritz, an Atlantic dolphin calf. In Japan, this film was shown in the Toei Manga Matsuri in 1975.

<i>Aquamarine</i> (novel) 2001 novel by Alice Hoffman

Aquamarine is a novel by Alice Hoffman, published in April 2001. A film adaptation was released in 2006, although the plot of the film bears little resemblance to that of the book.

<i>Golmaal Returns</i> 2008 comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty

Golmaal Returns is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty. The film is a remake of the 1989 Marathi film Pheka Pheki, which itself inspired by 1973 Hindi film Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar, it serves as the second installment in the Golmaal film series. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade. It was one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2008.

<i>Ripe</i> (film) 1997 American film

Ripe is a 1996 American independent drama film released in 1997. It was the first film written and directed by Mo Ogrodnik and starred Monica Keena and Daisy Eagan.

Bahay Kubo: A Pinoy Mano Po! is a 2007 Filipino comedy-drama film starring Maricel Soriano and Eric Quizon. It was one of the official entries of the Metro Manila Film Festival. The story setting is patterned after the films of the Mano Po series with Mestizo/Austronesian Filipino characters instead of Chinese Filipino characters.

<i>Wata no Kunihoshi</i> Japanese manga series

Wata no Kunihoshi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yumiko Ōshima. It was serialized by Hakusensha in LaLa magazine from 1978 to 1987 and collected in seven tankōbon volumes. The story is about an abandoned kitten called Chibi-neko who is adopted by a young man named Tokio who grows up believing that she is human.

<i>The Little Mermaid: Ariels Beginning</i> 2008 animated film

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning is a 2008 animated direct-to-video fantasy film produced by Disneytoon Studios, with the animation production being done by Toon City and DisneyToon Studios Australia. This film is the prequel to Disney's 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid, the third and final installment in The Little Mermaid trilogy, and the last direct-to-video sequel after John Lasseter took over as chairman for the Disney Animation Division. It is also the first in the chronology of the story running through the series and it is based on the fairy tale The LittleMermaid of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen and Disney's The Little Mermaid by Walt Disney Animation Japan and Walt Disney Television.

The works of J. M. Barrie about Peter Pan feature many characters. The numerous adaptations and sequels to those stories feature many of the same characters, and introduce new ones. Most of these strive for continuity with Barrie's work, developing a fairly consistent cast of characters living in Neverland and the real-world settings of Barrie's stories.

<i>Poison Ivy: The Secret Society</i> 2008 television film directed by Jason Hreno

Poison Ivy: The Secret Society is a 2008 American made-for-television erotic thriller drama film directed by Jason Hreno. It is a standalone sequel to the 1997 film Poison Ivy: The New Seduction and the fourth and final installment of the Poison Ivy film series. The film premiered on Lifetime on July 27, 2008.

<i>Princess of the Midnight Ball</i>

Princess of the Midnight Ball is a 2009 young adult fantasy novel written by Jessica Day George. It is based on the fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".

<i>Mako: Island of Secrets</i> Australian television series

Mako: Island of Secrets is an Australian television programme for children and teenagers created by Jonathan M. Shiff. Internationally released as Mako Mermaids, the show is a spin-off of H2O: Just Add Water and is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions in association with Network Ten, ZDF and Netflix.

<i>Skin of the Sea</i> 2021 young adult novel by Natasha Bowen

Skin of the Sea is a 2021 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian Welsh writer Natasha Bowen. Bowen's debut novel follows Simi, a mami wata who travels across sea and land in search of the Supreme Creator after breaking a law that threatens the existence of all mami wata.

References

  1. Tarr, Judith. "Mermaids of the Caribbean: Lisbon Okafor's Ten-Cent Daisy | Tor.com". www.tor.com. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  2. Stidhum, Tonja Renée. "'Ten-Cent Daisy (A Lost Mermaid Tale)', is an ethereal folktale tackling sexual assault, embracing sisterhood". Shadow and Act. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  3. Goff, Oscar (October 28, 2022). "INTERVIEW: 'Ten-Cent Daisy' director Lisbon Okafor". Boston Hassle. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  4. McClellan, Cree B. (October 27, 2017). "upcoming black mermaid film "ten-cent daisy" spreads the wave of representation to black girls everywhere". Afropunk.
  5. "Faculty Member Appears in New Film". UC Davis Arts. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  6. Yvonne, Stacey (16 November 2021). "ABFF 2021 Review: 'Ten-Cent Daisy' Has a Lot of Potential". Black Girl Nerds. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  7. "Ten-Cent Daisy". Spectrum Culture. 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  8. Pedersen, Tara (2018-09-27). "Thinking With Mermaids Here & Now". Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures. 12 (2). doi: 10.21463/shima.12.2.19 . ISSN   1834-6057.