ABOVE: Patrons watching films on the lawn during GATFFEST Community Film Night
From Left: Professor Ian Boxill (Deputy Principal, UWI, Mona Campus), Miss Savannah Peridot (Director for GATFFEST Film Festival), Mr. Masaya Fujiwara (Japanese Ambassador) and, Dr. Olivene Burke (Executive Director, Mona Social Services/UWI Community Film Project)
medal at the 2021 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) FiWi Short Film competition for her film entitled “The Past”. She also won the award for Best Short Film at the 2022 Lignum Vitae Film Festival for her film entitled “The Feeling of Before”. Trae-Ana Wilkins, a second-year (Level 2) student in the BA Journalism Programme, also won first place and received awards for ‘Best Undergrad Team’ and ‘Best Presenter’ at The UWI ‘Vincent Hosang’ Venture Competition (UWIVC) for her creation “ZRISE”. Launched on March 26, 2022, ZRISE is an online marketplace created by creatives for creatives, in an effort to aid in the progression of the Caribbean’s cultural and creative industries.
The strategy was to expand capacity and increase available seats for all ten film nights, especially the Jamaican Film Night. This year, celebrations received 54 submissions and 35 films screened, including one feature length animated Caribbean film. This year’s 10th Anniversary Festival was launched on June 9, 2022 at the Bob Marley Museum, beginning with the Premiere on June 25, 2022 and ending with the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on July 2, 2022. The ten nights of film consisted of film nights in collaboration with the Colombian, French, German, and Japanese Embassies, as well as an International Film Night and Jamaican Film Night. A special Community Film Night was held under the stars on June 18, 2022, on The UWI Campus. This special celebration of August Town and all surrounding communities, was where the festival began.
The Stuart Hall Distinguished Lecture The 3rd Annual Stuart Hall Distinguished Lecture was delivered by Dr. Juan Ricardo Aparicio from the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, on Friday May 6, 2022. The Lecture, titled “Stuart Hall’s Critique
• Two short films “A Touch of Sugar”, a drama which focuses on substance abuse, directed by Vennessa Hanshaw, and “Nice Lady”, a short horror film about sexual harassment directed by Kaiel Eytle. • A Special Presentation ‘‘Yellow Girl and Me”, a film about domestic abuse, directed by Isabella Issa. A special tribute was made to Professor Ian Boxill and Miss Eka Campbell. They were presented with citations for years of service to the GATFFEST Film Festival. The Festival earned approximately J$300,000. Most of this revenue was achieved through ticket sales and submission fees. The Festival also brought in approximately J$600,000 in kind support through partnerships with the Embassies and sponsorship from Rum Fire and Novatainment. The Unit is grateful to the Bob Marley Foundation, which pledged to contribute J$1,000,000 to be used as prize money for the 2nd Annual GATFFEST Film Pitch Competition to be held in October 2022.
6.2 SIGNATURE EVENTS GATFFEST Film Festival
The Premiere Night featured four films:
The tenth anniversary of the GATFFEST Film Festival was celebrated in the 2021-2022 academic year. This provided an opportunity to reflect on all excellent accomplishments achieved over the past decade, and to highlight this important milestone. Over 1,800 film submissions were received and 400 local and international films were screened at the event. For 2022, a decision was made to host all film nights at the Palace Cineplex Sovereign Centre.
• A documentary “Lockdown to Rebound”, a COVID-19 Documentary, produced by The University of the West Indies, Mona, and past GATFFEST Film Festival Director, Professor Ian Boxill. The featured film was directed by Miss Eka Campbell.
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UWI Mona Annual Report 2021 - 2022
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