BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase (TCFS) officially opened last night (Jan. 24) at the Copper Chimney, a recently established restaurant at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino in Frigate Bay.
While in St. Kitts, 47 films from 18 Caribbean countries will be showcased and last night started with a Cayman Islands drama called ‘Haven’, which was written and directed by Frank E. Flowers, a native of that country.
The 2004 99-minute film is said to be an ensemble of intersecting unconnected lives which resulted in a violent chain of events that turned tranquility into chaos.
The film features a crooked businessman, Carl Ridley (Bill Paxton), and his teenage daughter Pippa (Agnes Bruckner) who are there to hide from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Fritz (Victor Rasuk), a shady Cayman youth who is always in trouble with the police and the local drug lord; Shy (Orlando Bloom) and Andrea (Zoe Saldana) who are having a romance despite the disapproval of older brother Hammer (Anthony Mackie); and Mr. Allen (Stephen Dillane), a corrupt lawyer who is having trouble connecting with his son Patrick (Lee Ingleby).
A reasonable crowd was present to watch the intricate drama unfold at the opening ceremony.
According to a release, the purpose of the festival is to help further develop the Arts, Entertainment and Tourism Industry in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The TCFS, which is hosted by the St. Kitts Department of Culture, in collaboration with the National Commission for UNESCO and Muestra Itinerante de Cine del Caribe, is scheduled to conclude on January 29.
“This is the third time that the bi-annual affair will be held in St. Kitts-Nevis, and an Organising Committee headed by Ministry of Culture’s Marlene Phillips, and comprising videographers, film makers and other resource persons, have been formed,” the release stated.
Phillips thanked everyone who went to the opening and stated how important it was to showcase the Caribbean culture and to tell its story.
For the first time since the August 1, 1970 Christina Disaster, survivors will have an opportunity to tell their story in a documentary that is currently being produced by Kittitian Jeffery Phipps.
A section of the documentary was showcased just before the featured film, in which several survivors spoke about their experience.
There was also musical entertainment by Dime and Zemenfes Kidus and Wango.
Phillips said that it is the Department of Culture’s hope to bring recognition to film makers of the Caribbean and, more particularly, to increase the knowledge base of locals who could participate in and benefit from the establishment of a vibrant film industry in the Federation.
