CARIBBEAN REGION'S FIRST FILM SHOWCASE TO BE OFFICIALLY OPEN TOMORROW

April 10, 2007

The Caribbean Region’s first traveling film showcase will be officially declared open in Belize during ceremonies tomorrow.  Sponsored regionally by UNESCO and supported by the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry in collaboration with CARICOM, the traveling Caribbean Film Showcase is a 12 week itinerant Caribbean Film Festival binging the works of filmmakers from 14 countries. It will showcase feature length films as well as shorts and documentaries produced in the Caribbean and is expected to promote Caribbean cultural identity, raise awareness of the potential of the Caribbean filmmaking industry and contribute to the preservation of Caribbean audiovisuals in all of its diversity. The opening ceremony will be tomorrow night. Over the course of eight days at the Bliss the showcase will feature more than 30 hours of film divided into 16 programs each approximately two to two and a half hours. The films in the showcase’s official screening program were selected from a pool of more than 110 films submitted by 21 countries. The films, a mix of romance, drama and comedy showcase Caribbean peoples, their culture, lifestyles, music and carnival as well as touch on common social issues affecting the region such as HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, migration and poverty. The showcase opened in Saint Kitts and Nevis in February and will end in Cuba in May with intermediate stops in 21 countries. In Belize, the showcase is being supported by NICH, the UNESCO Belize Commission, the Embassy of Cuba in Belize and Fer De Lance Productions.

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