[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”29″ gal_title=”Piton Film Festival”]
THE third annual Piton International Film Festival (PIFF) came to an emotional and inspiring end last Saturday with the presentation of awards and a small concert held at Blu Hotel in Rodney Bay.
The event ran from August 15 to 20 under the theme “Celebrating positive filmmaking throughout the global community”, and featured the works of filmmakers from Saint Lucia and other Caribbean nations, the United Kingdom and Botswana.
PIFF is organized by founder, Ed Umoja Herman, a Saint Lucian, and his wife, Dr. Kathleen E. Walls. Moved by the words of former Prime Minister Sir John Compton for Saint Lucians overseas to aid in the development of the native country, Herman, who has been living in the United States since 1968, said he views the festival as his way of giving back.
PIFF’s main objectives are three-fold: a family-friendly event that promotes unity; a 12-month programme that focuses on celebrating, educating, exploring and understanding the various aspects needed in filmmaking; and creating economic opportunities for filmmakers including by introducing their work to industry leaders.
Other components of the festival were the workshops hosted by international actors and filmmakers who taught various classes related to filmmaking. The workshops included actors’ boot camp, learning the art of applying make-up for TV and film, and music video active workshop.
Various films were also screened during the festival, including Ted Sandiford’s “Tormented”, DiemiruayaDenira’s “Diary of a Badman”, Darnel Kendal John’s “Who Are You” and Atif Lanier’s “Swing”.
Last Saturday, awards were presented for selected films, including “Diary of a Badman”, “Swing”, “Silence”, “H20”, and “Muda”.
Other special awards were presented to Saint Lucia’s cultural icon Florita Marquis (posthumously), journalist/social commentator Jerry George and performance artist Velika “Xylaw” Lawrence and Dominica’s Nelly Stharre (posthumously).
“It’s very special to me that we do this because as we look at the multi-trillion-dollar film industry, I realize something about my homeland,” Herman said Saturday. “We have everything we need to dance in this stage. All we need to do is to connect ourselves to it and make sure that we have the proper skills set to make that possible.”
Several Saint Lucian artists performed at last Saturday’s concert, including Pearl Tench, Cleopatra Jules, Oscar and Chemis, AJ, Chela Mendes, Sherwinn “Dupes” Brice and the Florita Marquis Ensemble.
Students from the actors’ workshops also performed a short skit while others performed the PIFF theme song for this year.
