BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, January 18th 2011 – FOR the second time in its six-year existence, the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase will be hosted in St. Kitts.
This announcement was made yesterday (Jan. 17) by the Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee of the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase, Marlene Phillips, at a press conference held at the ZIZ Studio.
Phillips said the event would be held at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino from January 24 to 29.
The Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase, which is co-organised and co-sponsored by the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), UNESCO, UNICEF and MINCULT, travels throughout the Caribbean region every two years and this is the third time.
The Film Showcase was created as a mechanism to increase the visibility of films made by Caribbean film makers who respect the cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity in the region. Through their films, they show respect for the Caribbean peoples’ identity, their reality, history and culture by transcending the stereotypes presented from the outside, which do not represent the historical and cultural wealth of the countries in the region.
Among the attendees at the conference were: His Excellency Jorge Payret of the St. Kitts-
Nevis Embassy Republic of Cuba; Antonia Maynard of UNESCO; film maker/cinematographer of the St. Kitts Organising Committee Jeffery Phipps; Sanjhevi Kempadoo of Kittitian Hill, which is a major sponsor of the event; and Michael Blake who headed the conference and introduced the panel.
Maynard said St. Kitts was the first country to host the Caribbean Showcase and commended the Department of Culture for spearheading the venture. He said the idea is to raise awareness and contribute to Caribbean audio visual, and noted that UNESCO would like to wish the third Caribbean Film Showcase much success.
His Excellency Payret said Cuba supports the idea very much and declared that the film industry has been an area in which Cuba is specialised. He also used the opportunity to welcome the Film Showcase to St. Kitts and Nevis.
Payret noted that he is anxious to see the Showcase because of what it means to the Caribbean and the artistes. “In this showcase you would find what unites us, as we have similar cultures,” he added.
Chairperson Phillips said she is very passionate about the Showcase and informed the gathering that the film industry is alive and well in the twin-island Federation.
According to Phillips, this year’s Showcase is made up of 47 different films, all of which are fictions and documentaries that reflect the Caribbean.
“It covers so many different topics and areas, and there would be films shown everyday for free. So I am hoping that everyone would come out and support,” she stressed.
Phillips said the shows begin at 10:00 a.m. each day with the last showing at 9:00 p.m. She indicated that the event caters for everyone as there would also be children films, and the trailers could be viewed on Youtube.com/st.kittsculture.
Phipps informed that he would be hosting rap sessions for young individuals who are interested in film making by ensuring they understand to what level they want to take the Federation’s film industry.
Expressing Kittitian Hill’s support of the Travelling Film Showcase, Kempadoo said they intend to “set up a video unite to give young people training in video technology”, as a means to encourage young film makers to come forth and learn more.
This year’s event will feature a synopsis of films from a number of countries including Antigua-Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Columbia, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Guadaloupe and the Cayman Islands.
