More Barbadians getting into movie-making

More Barbadians are picking up a camera for the first time to become budding moviemakers, said the organiser of the annual Barbados Visual Media Festival even as they lament budget cuts and a decline in sponsorship.

Damien Pinder, president of the Barbados Film and Video Association, the festival’s organiser,  has told reporters he is pleased with the level of interest shown in the event by both amateur and professional filmmakers.

At a media conference to launch the festival’s 2019 edition, Pinder acknowledged that fewer sponsors were on board this year and the organisation had to ‘pay its own way’ for the most part.

He said: “As a non-profit organisation, the Barbados Film and Video Association has had to put more of its funds into the festival than before.

“It is tough but we believe this festival is very important for film enthusiasts and the film industry.

“So this year, as we are operating on a reduced budget, we might have to tone down the lighting set up for the opening and closing ceremonies, and we have had to cut our marketing budget so we are not doing any radio promotion.”

Pinder expressed the view that both corporate Barbados and ordinary citizens are not fully aware of the lucrative nature of the film industry over the long term, hence their reluctance at times to support it.

He told reporters: “People are just a bit more cautious and film is a young industry unlike sports or Crop Over, and it is very tough to make the film industry in Barbados profitable at this stage.

“Education is another element because the culture is very different from Europe and the US.

“For example, if you want to cast someone in a film from a religious point of view.

“In those countries, Christians will go to a film even if it doesn’t push Christian values, but in Barbados people would have reservations about it because it is difficult for them to separate the artform from how they live.”

This year’s festival will feature six international films. They hail from the United States, United Kingdom, Kurdistan, Austria and France.

Pinder said he was also pleased with the response of local filmmakers to the “48-hour Challenge” element of the festival held in September, in which participants were given two days to conceptualise, script, film and edit a movie.

He said: “We had professionals, people who have never picked up a camera before, we had older people and some who were in their late teens coming forward.

“There were 16 teams, the highest number we have ever had, and ten of them managed to complete their projects within the given time.

“We will show all ten of the movies, and the best one will receive an award of $4,800.”

Participants had to start fresh for the 48-Hour Challenge, as Pinder explained: “This year, the theme was Rivalry, and some of the required elements this year included: a character has to say the line ‘I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadow’; the required prop – a disposable razor which must be shown in the film; required location, a cart road; required costume, a pair of black sunglasses, and a required character is a nagging boss.”

Apart from the screenings of movies, there will also be workshops held during the event.

One of the workshops, Creating Compelling Trailers, covers an aspect Pinder said needs some work here.

“Sometimes people spend so much time and money making the films that they do not think about putting together a trailer to help market it, the BFVA president said. “The trailer is usually the first thing audiences see, and even if the movie is not all that great, people will still flock to see it once the trailer is a good one.”

This year’s festival runs from October 24 to 27, with the opening ceremony taking place at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa.

The recently completed movie, Too Lickrish, starring comic actor Seth Bovell, will be shown on the opening night, and the festival will end at the Accra Beach Hotel with an awards ceremony.

Directed by Vincentian Tolga Akcayli, the film centres around a penniless millennial couple who strike a deal with debt collectors in order to prevent total humiliation but decide to take matters into their own hands and become a pair of twisted Robin Hood-vigilantes. But their scheme interferes with a local gang syndicate, and they are forced to try escape their tormentors.