Date & Time
7:00pm, 30 May 2024 - 9:30pm, 30 May 2024Location
Caribbean Cinemas - Antigua Megaplex 8, Friars Hill Road, Antigua and BarbudaAbout the event
The Commonwealth Foundation presents a special screening of seven short films arising from the ‘Caribbean Voices’ programme, which was delivered in 2020 for early career filmmakers and screenwriters from the region.
Hosted by award-winning Antiguan filmmaker and producer Mitzi Allen, the screening will be followed by audience questions and answers with Grenadian filmmaker Amanda John, Director of Forget Me Not.
From heart-wrenching narratives of love and loss to stories inviting us to reflect on the climate crisis, mental health and cultural taboos, this collection of short films unpacks contemporary Caribbean culture and identity.
The short films that will be screened are as follows:
- Parable of the Bees (Directed by Melanie Grant, Barbados)
- Afieni (Directed by Felene Cayetano, Belize)
- Forget Me Not (Directed by Amanda John, Grenada)
- Eating Pawpaw on the Seashore (Directed by Rae Wiltshire, Guyana)
- Sonshine (Directed by Kaleb D’Aguilar, Jamaica)
- Parliament Girls (Directed by Akley Olton, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
- Departures (Directed by Elenie Chung, Trinidad and Tobago)
Starts at 7pm at the Caribbean Cinemas, Antigua Megaplex, 8 Friars Hill Road.
Please note that this screening is free to attend, but RSVPs are essential.
Guests
Mitzi Allen is an award-winning broadcast journalist and film and television producer. She is the managing director of HAMA Inc. and has produced five feature films, four television series and countless documentaries. Her career began as a broadcast journalist for CFTO TV (CTV Canada) as a reporter and continued in Antigua & Barbuda with various media organisations before she joined her husband Howard Allen as co-owner of HAMA Productions, an independent film and television production company founded in 1992.
As a Media Consultant Mitzi Allen has worked with media houses in the Caribbean and Canada. She established Media Matters with Mitzi the training arm of her consultancy. She has been a consultant for FLOW 98.7 radio in Toronto, Canada and in collaboration with the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS and UNECSO she has trained young producers across the Caribbean to produce content for radio and television. She also collaborated with the CBMP in Vienna and Washington on training journalists to cover the International AIDS Conference in 2010/2012. She is a mentor to many young filmmakers and budding journalists.
Amanda is a leading Grenadian born female Filmmaker and Producer. She began her career in the late 1990s as a news journalist, broadcaster and feature writer for the Grenada Broadcasting Network (GBN), where she produced a range of short features and documentaries for television.
After completing a B.T.E.C. National Diploma in Film and Television Production at Lewisham College, United Kingdom, Amanda returned to Grenada as TV Programme Producer at Community Channel Six under the then Columbus Communications, now FLOW.
Since launching her own company in 2008, Amanda has continued her personal development with certifications in script writing and film production from the Caribbean School of Media and Communication (CARIMAC), University of the West Indies; The Commonwealth Foundation and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU).
Amanda has worked as Lead Consultant, Film and international agency funded projects such as the UNDP Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and The International Trade Centre (ITC) and UNAIDS.
Amanda’s passion for storytelling has led her to expand her portfolio, with the completion of her first screen play and short film, Forget Me Not, produced in partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation.
Her work over the past 25 years has received national and regional awards, including recognitions for outstanding documentaries from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Grenada’s ‘National Cultural Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Visual Arts.’
Discussion
Location
Caribbean Cinemas - Antigua Megaplex 8, Friars Hill Road, Antigua and Barbuda
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