REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL – BIGGER AND BETTER IN 2010
Everything is now in place for the start of the Reggae Film Festival 2010 to be held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel with a Gala Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, February 24 of the music documentary RUFFN' TUFF: FOUNDERS OF THE IMMORTAL RIDDIM featuring Lynn Taitt, Lloyd Parks, Gladstone 'Gladdy' Anderson, Leroy Sibbles, Bob Andy, Gregory Isaacs and many more. Films will be screened each night in the Hilton Hotel Ballroom Cinema, and during the day in the Jonkanoo Lounge where the After Parties will be held each night.
The 6-day event starts on Monday February 22 with a Make A Film In 24 Hours competition, moderated by leading film and TV producer/director Rick (“Me and Mi Krew”) Elgood. Several entries have been received from young Jamaican film makers trying for prizes from SuperPlus and Breezes Runaway Bay Hotel.
Among the special film premieres in Reggae Film Festival 2010 are two filmed-in-Jamaica features from the USA including the World Premiere of “A DANCE FOR GRACE” about a US school dance team who fly to Jamaica to learn authentic dancehall steps for a competition to raise funds for a sick teacher. The festival is also pleased to screen the first Jamaican showing of 'WAH DO DEM', winner of the Los Angeles Film Festival Best Narrative Feature award, which tells the amusing story of a young man who gets off a cruise ship in Ocho Rios, misses its departure and has to find his way to the US Embassy in Kingston for help. Both films feature Jamaica's beauty and the generous spirit of the Jamaican people.
This year the Reggae Film Festival is proud to showcase 10 films by Jamaican-based film makers in the New Jamaican Cinema programme. These include 'NOT TO ME' the first feature film by noted videographer Ras Kassa, the gritty inner-city feature films CONCRETE JUNGLE, KINGSTON 12 by Kurt Fuller and 9 DAYS TO LIVE by Allan 'Endless' Tennant; as well as documentaries THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DANCEHALL MUSIC'by Reginald Campbell, the Kimala Bennett documentary COMBING THROUGH THE ROOTS OF BLACK HAIR and Peter Dean Rickards report on THE LAST DON.
The international film community continues to document Jamaica's music culture with loving insight. This year's entries include rare footage of Lee Scratch Perry in the International Premiere of 'ICH SENDE AUS DEM ALL (I Am Transmitting From the Universe') by Producer/Director:Peter Braatz of Germany. The Reggae Film Festival is also honoured with the World Premiere of REGGAE IN THE RUFF -- a series of interviews, live performances and reasonings with Rasta musicians about the essence of reggae and what it means to those who create it, made by Discovery Channel director Don'McConnell. UNSUNG by Pepe Urquito features R.C. Tomlinson – one of Reggae's unsung heroes, while the adventure documentary ll MILES TO PARADISE with a reggae soundtrack, is the Reggae Film Festival's first entry from Hawaii.
Of special interest is the ground-breaking animated film KINA SKY by Jamaican/Swiss film maker Coretta Singer which was selected Top Ten in the 2009 Nickelodeon TV competition. The Jamaican Diaspora is represented in CRUNCH, a feature film made in England by Jamaican/British film maker Wayne G. Saunders, the story of a young, new immigrant.
The Reggae Film Festival showcases 6 films about Rastafari in the Red, Gold and Green Screen programme on Saturday Feb 27, including DESTINATION JAMAICA whose director Jungle George is attending his 3rd Reggae Film Festival. Students from 5 Kingston schools will attend the Children's Films Programme on Friday Feb 26, that includes the documentary BUSCON from Argentina about baseball scouts recruiting talented children of Jamaican parentage; UNDER MY GARDEN from Italy - winner of the Spike Lee Babelgum Festival 2009, and the Jamaican feature KIDS PARADISE – SHASTA RUNS AWAY starring Storm, Nile and Shasta Saulter, Elise Kelly, Judy Mowatt and Makonnen Blake Hanna.
At a Seminar moderated by UWI lecturer Dr. Michael Barnett, panelists Ras Kassa, Coretta Singer, Kurt Fuller and Reggae Film Festival cordinator Barbara Blake Hannah will discuss the Jamaican Film industry and its development needs. The Reggae Film Festival will close on Saturday, February 27 with the presentation of Awards in several categories and the induction of a new Pioneer Member of the Jamaica Film Academy.
The Reggae Film Festival 2010 is presented by the Jamaica Film Academy in association with the HILTON KINGSTON Hotel. The event has been organized by a Planning Committee chaired by Barbara Blake Hannah, including UK Film archivist Peter Gittins, musicologist Mikey Barnett, World Cinema Showcase presenter Lloyd Laing, UWI Professor Dr. Michael Barnett, and film maker Lesley-Ann Welsh, with sponsorship from IRIE-FM, PHASE 3, Stanley Motta Rentals, National Continental Foods, Pepsi/TruJuice, Breezes Runaway Bay, SuperPlus Stores, Caribbean Producers Ltd., Blackwell Rums and Jamaica Media Productions.
