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• Arts and Culture
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• 11 / 12 / 2006

In February 2007, St. Kitts/Nevis will welcome the first "Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase" to its shores. During the Cuban Cinema Festival held in Kingston in 2005, Jamaican and Cuban culture officials agreed to create a Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase that will involve the participation of Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Dominique, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, St Kitts/Nevis, Guyana, Belize, Aruba, Curacao, Surinam, Guiana, Antigua & Barbuda, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Cuba, Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico.

Organisers of the film showcase, which will travel throughout the Caribbean region between the months of February and May 2007, consist of The Cuban Institute of Cinema Art and Industry (ICAIC) in coordination with the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean - based in Havana, the UNESCO Offices in Kingston Jamaica and Port-au-Prince Haiti, with the support of Caricom, cultural institutions and governments in several Caribbean Nations, the Casa de las Americas Caribbean Studies Centre and the Foundation of the New Latin American Cinema along with other agencies.

Each participating country has been asked to create a co-ordination committee that is responsible for selecting three films of short, medium or full length in the following categories of fiction, animation or documentary.

The authors must be Caribbean nationals, even though they might not reside in a Caribbean nation and films must be presented in digital DVD format abiding by the NTSC Standard.

The films will be sent to the Organising Committee in Havana, Cuba who will choose a film to represent each country and to become part of the 14-16 hour showcase. Films must be delivered to the Organising Committee by 15 Nov.

The Organising Committee in Havana Cuba is formed by Cuban film-maker Rigoberto Lopez as its president, Alwyn Bully - senior programme specialist UNESCO Kingston, Montserrat Martel - specialist UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean based in Havana, Arnold Antonin - Haitian film-maker and producer, Frantz Voltaire - Haitian film-maker, Bruce Paddington - film-maker from Trinidad & Tobago and Phil Harden - distributor and exhibitor from Barbados and other film-makers. Luis Notario - advisor to the presidency of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), is also a member of the Organising Committee and was appointed as co-ordinator to the showcase.

The St. Kitts/Nevis Co-ordination Committee is chaired by Marlene Phillips-Lee - research and documentation specialist at St. Kitts Department of Culture and consists of the following individuals in the cultural heritage, audiovisual and film industry; Creighton Pencheon, Director of culture - Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture, Mahlon Gomer, director of broadcasting - St. Kitts/Nevis Information Services (S.K.N.I.S.), Giles Dickenson, media producer - St. Kitts/Nevis Information Services (S.K.N.I.S.), Huey Sargeant, director of broadcasting - Nevis Information Services (N.I.S.), Ossie Wilde, owner/producer - Liamuiga Studios and Brand 2 Brand, Winston Mac Mahon, general manager - ZIZ Broadcasting Corp. (St. Kitts/ Nevis), Miguel Liburd, owner/producer - Image Masters Ltd., Roger Brisbane, owner/producer - Brisbane Productions, Dele Adams, owner/partner - MAGE, Paul Orchard, owner/partner - MAGE, Christine Walwyn, acting CEO - Ministry of Tourism St. Kitts, Unoma Allen, corporate communications manager - Ministry of Tourism, Antonio Maynard, secretary-general - St. Kitts/Nevis National Commission for UNESCO and Rita Schneider, director - Alliance Francaise.

The deadline for receiving films to be considered by the St. Kitts/Nevis Co-ordination Committee is 16 Nov. Films must be delivered to the Department of Culture Office P.O. Box 878 Port Zante Bldg. #9 2nd Flr. Basseterre, St. Kitts to the attention of Marlene Phillips Lee, chairperson and must be in DVD digital format and accompanied with a typed script that contains the dialogue of the entire film.

Pencheon, director of culture said, "It is an opportunity for us to tell our story through our own eyes."

Dele Adams, MAGE (Movies, Art, Graphics, Entertainment) said, "The film industry has a place for any and every skill. Even, if a child is not academic there is a place for them in the film industry. Its a viable career option and we want to bring it to the nation."

Source: Cubarte