Thursday, December 13, 2007

New Reggae Film Festival for Feb.2008

We are very pleased to announce the first of our annual Reggae Film Festival events which will take place in Kingston , Jamaica in Feb.2008, below is the press release from the Minister of Culture..........


MINISTER OF CULTURE ANNOUNCES REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL


Kingston, Jamaica, December 11,2008

A REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL featuring films that have reggae music as the subject, story line or content will be held in Kingston on February 20,21,22, 2008 to focus on film as an aspect of Jamaican music culture. This was announced today by Minister of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports with responsibility for Entertainment, Hon. Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, who said that her Ministry will be assisting the Reggae Film Festival to showcase some of the many documentaries, feature films and music videos being made that incorporate or highlight Jamaica's unique reggae music.


The Film Festival will be a prelude to the Reggae Academy Awards being presented at that time by Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam) as well as a sidebar of the Global Reggae 2008 conference hosted by the UWI Institute of Caribbean Studies.


The REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL is organized by film maker and film festival organizer Barbara Blake Hannah in collaboration with ReggaeFilms.co, a UK-based online community and marketplace for films, books and music highlighting Jamaica's reggae culture. Minister Grange says the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL will give Jamaicans the opportunity to view some of the best of the hundreds of films made about and because of the world famous music of Jamaica, that not only reflect the wide interest in Jamaican music, but also bring tourists on vacation and income to members of the entertainment fraternity, as well as the nation.

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"Most of the films about Jamaica are made by reggae lovers in countries outside Jamaica and we here at home have never seen them. There are also some Jamaican films that equally have never had local TV or cinema exposure. The REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL will showcase the best of these. There is certainly enough material of interest continually being produced to make this an annual event," said Minister Grange.


Co-ordinators Barbara Blake Hannah and Peter Gittins of Reggae Films UK, say the Reggae Film Festival will be a Red Carpet event of films in the categories of Reggae Rock-umentary, Roots – Rock - Reggae, and Give Thanks & Praise.


A special Charity Premiere of the feature documentary "THE AFRICAN SAFARI" with Dub poet Benjamin Zephiniah that examines the social, economic and political progress of the African people, will be hosted by Mrs. Lorna Golding, wife of the Prime Minister, and her son Stephen to raise funds for the UK-African charity S.E.E.D. On the final night Awards will be presented to the Best Feature, Best Documentary and Best Music Video.


Among the screenings will be a film archive segment featuring the documentary "Red X: Stepping Razor" by Wayne Jobson and the feature film "Countryman" by Dickie Jobson, both of whom will be special guests of the Reggae Film Festival. An announcement will be made nearer the event date of a major star guest from the US film industry.


The music video entries include the sensational claymation videos by "Duppy Arts'' featuring animated figures of stars such as Yellow Man, Twins of Twins, Ninja Man, Bounti Killa and Capelton performing their greatest hits.


The Reggae Film Festival is intended to be the foundation of a Jamaica Film Academy that will archive films for research, screening and education. Entries are invited of films of any length by professionals as well as amateurs. All submissions must be on DVD and there is no entry fee.


ABOUT REGGAE FILMS.CO

'Reggae Films UK promotes Jamaican related films and helps to keep the public and members of the industry informed about all the latest Jamaican film productions and releases throughout the world. This is done online via a regularly updated film list on the website www.reggaefilms.co.uk


The aim of Reggae Films.co is to promote and preserve Jamaican culture through the use of film. The company is very passionate about Jamaican culture and especially films which help to capture the essence of Jamaican life. Reggae Music plays a big part of Jamaican culture and many films have been made on the subject over the years yet most of these films have never been aired in Jamaica or ever released on the island, so the Jamaican people are really missing out on some beautiful films which have helped to attract people to Jamaica over the years and that have built an image in peoples minds of what Jamaica is all about.


The Jamaica Film Academy aims to preserve all moving images relating to Jamaica and it's musical past. Reggae is a worldwide phenomenon which has brought the One Love message to us all. A lot of the originators of reggae music are no longer with us and some of these legends were never captured on film, but some were. It's our goal to make sure that all Jamaican related films are collected, catalogued and preserved for the future generations.


Jamaican culture has had such a big effect worldwide yet there is no real accessible archive which collects these types of films, these films are so important to the history of Jamaica as well as for the education of the rest of the world and need to be preserved. Reggae Films.co has been cataloging and collecting films single handedly for several years now and recently had the opportunity to team up with Jamaica Media Productions who also have the same goals and enthusiasm to help make our goals a reality and to help preserve these special films.'


Application forms for Entries in the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL can be requested from Jamaica Media Productions Ltd., P.O. Box 727, Kingston 6 or downloaded from myspace.com/jamaicamediaproductions.



Further Info:

Barbara Blake Hannah

876-384-2923

1 comment:

  1. http://www.flashpointfestival.com/community/index.html

    Join The Flashpoint Festival Community, Talk about Jamaican film and video production, look for and create links in the industry, look for job openings, equipment for sale or rent, talent availability. The community is what we make it, so its uses are limitless we just need people to Join.

    ReplyDelete