The Reggae Film Festival Travels to the UK.....20th+21st June 2009

After our unfortunate postponement of the Reggae Film Festival last February we have now managed to secure some UK dates which are 20th+21st June, we will be putting on a "Best of The Reggae Film Festival" event over a 2 day period in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne which is being hosted by the Red Stripe Boss Sounds Reggae Festival which has a very good reputation as being the UK's number one annual reggae event.

This is the first of many venues on our Reggae Film Festival tour and we will post up more info on the website and in the press of future events. We hope to be back in Jamaica later this summer with the re-scheduled Reggae Film Festival and have been working hard to secure a venue, more news on this in the coming months.

details of our UK event are as follows:


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REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL GOES ABROAD AT
THE RED STRIPE BOSS SOUNDS FESTIVAL
starring headline performances from:
FREDDIE MCGREGOR, DERRICK MORGAN, THE CONGOS plus OWEN GRAY


This year's annual staging of the Boss Sounds Festival in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, has been re-named the Red Stripe Boss Sounds Festival after the Jumpin' Hot Club secured a deal with the famous Jamaican brewer. The Festival takes place at the Cluny & The Cluny 2, The Tyneside Cinema and The Curtis Mayfield House, Newcastle upon Tyne on Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 June 2009 and headliners will be Roots Legend Freddie McGregor (21st June), Ska King Derrick Morgan in a superb double bill with Ska legend Owen Gray (20th June), and the Mighty Diamonds.

This year's festival will also feature for the first time outside Jamaica, "The Reggae Film Festival" which will see some of the greatest reggae films ever made screened at the Tyneside Cinema. Highlights include "Heartland Reggae" which documented Bob Marley's One Love concert and "Rico Rodriques - the Legacy" which captures the trombone players life, tracking his time with The Specials and Bob Marley. Plus many more great films......

Freddie McGregor ranks alongside Bob Marley as one of the biggest reggae singers Jamaica has ever produced. Famous for his smash number One hit, "I Just Don't Want To Be Lonely" he is loved by pop fans and reggae enthusiasts alike. A graduate of the famous Studio One, Freddie went on the develop a reputation as one of the most vocally gifted singers in reggae, able to turn his hand to lovers or roots material with equal potency as demonstrated on massive hits like, "Big Ship" and "Jogging".

Backing up Freddie on the Sunday will be Jamaica's greatest roots combo the Congos. Lauded for their sublime "Heart of the Congos" one of Lee Perry's greatest releases. A pure roots vocal trio rated at amongst the genres greatest acts and making their north-east debut.

The King of Ska, Derrick Morgan's career dates back to the birth of the Jamaican record industry. He is famous for his Jamaican Independence anthem, "Forward March" and recorded extensively for Prince Buster. He later fell out with the great Prince and recorded, "Blazing Fire" which was featured on the Soundtrack to The Who film, Quadraphenia. His performance is a must for all fans of Ska music. Owen Gray who will be joining Derrick is one of the pioneers of Jamaican music famous for his Ska hit, "Millie Girl".

The Boss Sounds launch features the Mighty Diamonds , the sublime Jamaican vocal trio famous for their hits, "Pass the Dutchie", "I need a Roof" and a string of '70s roots classics..

Other festival highlights include The Congos, Ska'd for Life DJs and other great bands, Diddley Squat and the Emporers Dentist plus as ever a tremendous After-show party at World Headquarters.

For more information go to http://www.jumpinhot.com/ or www.myspace.com/bosssoundsfestival

REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL INSPIRES NEW DOCUMENTARY ON 70’S ROOTS SINGER

Among the positive outcomes of the first Reggae Film Festival is the production of a new documentary on a forgotten 70s Roots Singer by an American film maker who attended the event in February 2008.

Documentary film maker Pepe Urquijo, currently appearing on Discovery Channel as director/teacher at “San Quentin Prison Film School”, the first ever film school behind prison bars, writes on his latest blog entry:

“Last year at this time I was in Jamaica relaxing. Happening also at the same time was the Reggae Film Festival. How could I not go? I saw some great films and met even greater people. One of them was an elderly man by the name of RC Tomlinson who approached me carrying his two hit 45 singles from the 70’s.He told me his desire of a having a number one hit. We exchanged info and within a week my documentary buddy from NY, Eddie Martinez, flew down with a camera and mike gear and it was on. We followed this vintage reggae singer through the streets of Kingston as he shared with us the story of his life. RC’s story is vital to reggae history because he is just one of the multitude of Jamaican artists that have had more talent than opportunities to continue singing.”

The video trailer can be viewed on MySpace at:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=52950290

Left to right: Jerry Brown, R.C.Tomlinson, Barbara Blaka Hannah, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, pictured at the Reggae Film Festival 2008

Anyone interested in watching the documentary on the San Quentin Film School which Pepe teaches can see it on The Discovery Chanel 20th and 27th March 2009 aqt 9:00am, if the films get a good response they may show 4 more episodes.

Jamaica Film Academy film screening....

CPTC CEO Angela Patterson (2nd L) with Shirley Hannah, executive assistant, and Fernando Garcia, director – WHY DO JAMAICANS RUN SO FAST; JFA director Barbara Blake Hannah; Perry Cassagnol, director and (front) Isyah Thorb, child star of ‘THE FORGOTTEN FATHER”.

The postponement of the Reggae Film Festival did not prevent the Jamaica Film Academy from screening 5 films by directors who came to Jamaica for the event, as the JFA partnered with Island Village in Ocho Rios and the Creative Production and Training Center (CPTC) in Kingston to screen two programmes on February 21 and 27 of some of the films entered.

The Island Village screening was sponsored by Blackwell Rums whose CEO, Chris Blackwell is a leading Jamaican film producer. In Kingston, the venue was Jamaica’s leading film production and training agency, the CPTC where CEO Angela Patterson hosted a programme of Films From Around The World as part of the monthly screenings held in the main TV studio.

Audience at Island Village, Ocho Rios.

Among the film makers who came to Jamaica at their own expense for the screenings were: Brian ‘Sugar Cane’, director of the short feature ‘THE PIANO TUNER” and the animated music video “MANGO” that received much acclaim at both screenings; Perry Cassagnol, director of the US feature “THE FORGOTTEN FATHER”, who was accompanied by the child star of the film, Isyah Thorb; Mirko Mikjus, director of ‘THE SERBIA STATUE” a documentary about the raising of a Bob Marley statue at his Rock Village in Serbia; and Fernando Garcia, Spanish director of the popular documentary ‘WHY DO JAMAICANS RUN SO FAST?” filmed around the return of Jamaica’s Olympic athletes.

Jamaican films screened in Ocho Rios and Kingston were the short feature “WING” by Tony ‘Paleface’ Henry, and “ROOM FOR RENT” the feature film of Ginger Knight’s popular stage play.

Copies of the films ‘THE SERBIA STATUE” and ‘WHY DO JAMAICANS RUN SO FAST” were presented by the directors to CPTC, for free screenings to Jamaican viewers on the CTV channel and storage in the CPTC film archive. In a statement at the conclusion of the screenings, Jamaica Film Academy director Barbara Blake Hannah announced that the JFA will continue to host monthly film screenings at Island Village and in association with CPTC to expand the work of the JFA and provide opportunities for screening of independent films.

Reggae Film Festival Postponed.....

POSTPONING THE 2009 REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL

The JAMAICA FILM ACADEMY regrets to announce that the global economic crisis has impacted on the ability of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports to secure adequate sponsorship to present the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL 2009 as planned. The event has therefore been postponed until later in 2009.

This decision to postpone after having done so much work organizing the event has caused us tremendous regret,
as the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL was poised to be a major success, having attracted more than 40 feature film, documentary and music video entries, 10 national and international guests, and several international media and visitors making their own travel arrangements to attend the event. However, due to lack of sponsorship support as well as last-minute changes proposed by the organizers of Reggae Month that would severely scale down and cut back on the plans already in place for the event, we have been forced to take this decision.

Accordingly, the JAMAICA FILM ACADEMY has postponed the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL until later in the year when adequate sponsorship and support can be obtained to stage a world-class film festival that Jamaica can be proud of.

In order that film is not totally left out of Jamaica’s Reggae Month observances, the JAMAICA FILM ACADEMY will contribute a selection of films from its Archive to the Reggae Villages being organized by the Reggae Month organizers at various locations around the island to showcase music, art and craft.

Despite the postponement of the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL, the ‘Make A Film In 24 Hours” competition will still take place on February 23 as scheduled and the winning films will be shown later that week at the Reggae Villages.

The JAMAICA FILM ACADEMY sincerely apologizes to all who have entered films and made travel arrangements to attend the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL and ask that all plans be put on hold until a new date is set.


BARBARA BLAKE HANNAH
Director – REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL
January 27, 2009

Make a Film in 24 Hours Competiton

NEW FEATURE OF REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL EXCITES INTEREST

Jamaicans are expressing excited interest in a competition to make a film in 24 hours that will be a feature of the second Reggae Film Festival being held February 23-27, 2009.  The competition will challenge local filmmakers to create an original short film (5 minutes max) in just 24 hours and give amateur and professional individuals and groups the chance to showcase their film making skills and win prizes.

The competition has become the most talked-about aspect of the programme announced by the Jamaica Film Academy for the Reggae Film Festival, that includes Premieres of two feature films and several documentaries, a Childrens Day featuring the Spike Lee/Babelgum Film Festival winner "UNDER MY GARDEN", a Reggae Film Seminar hosted by noted UWI Professor Carolyn Cooper and a Retrospective Honour of Ted Bafaloukos 1978 comedy "ROCKERS" starring a host of reggae greats.

The Make-a-Film-in-24-Hours Competition will be managed by young Jamaican film director Storm Saulter ("BETTA MUS COME')  and entrants will be invited to register 3 weeks before the Film Festival begins.  On the morning of February 23, 2009, they will gather at the Emancipation Park venue to get the green light to begin, then return 24 hours later to hand in their finished film.  The competition is an opportunity to stand out as a filmmaker, as one of the prizes comes from the Creative Production and Training Center (CPTC) film production house which is giving the winning director a chance to make a full-length production for their CTV channel. 

The Reggae Film Festival is an annual event highlighting the many films that have been made about Jamaica's most famous cultural product and export -- reggae music. The film festival provides proof that Jamaica has produced a new genre of films unique to the island and that people from all over the world not only love listening to, but also making films with and about reggae.

The Reggae Film Festival is produced by the Jamaica Film Academy, a project of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports.

Reggae Film Festival Set for February 2009

Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports

KINGSTON (JIS):
Saturday, December 06, 2008

Come February 2009, the Jamaica Film Academy (JFA), through the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports (MICYS), will host the second annual Reggae Film Festival, at Emancipation Park, in Kingston.

This will be carried out under the direction of the Ministry's Consultant, Barbara Blake Hannah, and British film archivist, Peter Gittins.

In an interview with JIS News, Ms. Hannah said she hoped that the second staging of the Festival would serve as a catalyst for the development of the JFA, as well as Jamaica's film industry.

"For this film festival, we want to use it to solidify the aims and objectives of the JFA, to really establish an umbrella under which the training of film makers and the production and creation of Jamaican Films can take place, in a very fruitful and supportive environment," she said.

"As you know, the MICYS has many divisions that have film making arms, you have the Creative Production and Training Centre, Media Technology Institute, Jamaica Information Service, Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica, to name a few... plus it also has the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. So, this is really the place where we see we can finally make something equivalent to the Cuban Film Institute, which has film making under one umbrella, and has therefore become the most productive film country in the region, and one might even say, the hemisphere," Miss Hannah pointed out.

As to what patrons should expect at the Festival, Ms. Hannah said they would see films that they have never seen in Jamaica and probably would never see in Jamaica, but for the Festival. "These are films that have been made about Jamaica's reggae music culture," she noted.

Persons who want to register to have their films shown at the Festival, should "go to the film festival website: www.jamaicafilmacademy.org, which hosts the Festival, and you can download an entry form right there, make a DVD copy of the film and send it to us," Ms. Hannah said.

According to the Consultant, entries have already started to come in. "We already got a lovely entry from Italy that won the Babel Gum on-line Film Festival award, that was judged by Spike Lee, and the award was presented at the last Cannes Film Festival," she revealed.

The Festival is scheduled for Monday, February 23 to Friday February 27, 2009. There will be screenings in the day under a large tent and during the nights in the open air. Ms. Hannah is encouraging all Jamaicans to come out and support the event, which is free to the public.
INNOVATIONS FOR SECOND REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL
The first Reggae Film Festival was held in Kingston, from February 20 to 22, 2008, and showcased several films that have been made about Jamaica's Reggae music and culture. Most of the films were making their debut in Jamaica, as many of them had been made by non-Jamaicans living and working outside the country.

A "Make a Film in 24 Hours" competition will be one of a number of special activities at the second annual Reggae Film Festival (RFF) scheduled for February 23 - 27, 2009 at Emancipation Park in Kingston.

In an interview with JIS News, one of the chief organizers, Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports (MICYS) consultant, Barbara Blake Hannah, explained that "we are going to run a "Make a Film in 24 Hours" competition and we are going to invite both amateurs and professionals to participate. They will begin at 6:00 one morning and at 6:00 the next morning they will hand in a completed film of any length, any subject and in fact people may use their cell phones to make the film".

Another area that will come in for special attention is the often neglected script writing.

"We plan to have a one day script writing film seminar. We have had a lot of seminars on film making, different aspects such as camera and production but very few on script writing and so we are going to have one at RFF 2009".

CALL FOR SPONSORS
Additionally, Ms. Hannah told JIS News that there would also be an awards ceremony and that "these are some of the few innovations and there will be more as additional entities and sponsors come on board".

In the meantime, she is calling for more sponsorship given the international appeal of the festival and the international interest that it has generated since the first staging in February 2008.

"I think what we really need is complete sponsorship. We have partial sponsorship and we are looking to complete the sponsorship roll out. We have had a lot of international interest in the RFF and in fact it's appropriate because it's from international film makers that we have gotten most of our films," she emphasizes.

Continuing on the topic of sponsorship, Ms. Hannah highlighted the fact a European company has been secured for promotion. "Propeller TV will broadcast our trailers and promotional videos online to 18 million viewers across Europe".

Persons who want to register to have their films shown at the RFF should "go to the film festival website www.jamaicafilmacademy.org which hosts the RFF and you can download an entry form right there, make a DVD copy of the film and send it to us," Ms. Hannah said.

RFF 2009 is being organized by the Jamaica Film Academy (JFA), through the MICYS and under the direction of Ms. Hannah and British film archivist, Peter Gittins.