NOTICE

It is at early ages in childhood and adolescence that the image, identity and culture of a country begin to be defined as an essential part of the nation’s identity.

Because of their diverse and unique culture, the most hopeful support for the future in every nation in the Caribbean is to be found in their children and adolescents.

It is fundamental for the education of our children and youngsters that they see themselves in their own history, culture and identity and to contribute to it must be the responsibility and commitment of society as a whole, especially of educational institutions, but also of the media, specifically cinema and television, since both can decisively influence their adequate upbringing or deviation.

Films for our children and youngsters should be more than mere entertainment. This is not only a training requirement, but a substantial contribution to the spiritual development of the future men and women in the Caribbean region.

The global presence of patterns of violence and alienating stories that have nothing in common with the realities and cultural context in which our children and youngsters will find themselves is a challenge to the preservation and defense of the best ethical and cultural values in our nations.

In this sense, the recently concluded First Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase, a regional event in which 23 countries participated, was an important illustration of its effective contribution to mutual knowledge and to the collaboration and cultural integration of the Caribbean nations.

This initiative, the result of an exchange between Cuban and Jamaican filmmakers, was promoted by ICAIC and the UNESCO Regional Offices for the Caribbean (Havana, Kingston and Port-au-Prince), as well as by the UNESCO National Commissions in the countries in the region, CARICOM and Telesur. The Showcase aroused the attention and support of filmmakers and audiovisual professionals in the Caribbean as well as that of governmental authorities working in the cultural field in these countries.

This was the first time that Caribbean audiences had the opportunity to see a selection of 28 films by Caribbean filmmakers from 15 countries, subtitled in the languages of the region: English, Spanish, French and, significantly, Haitian Creole.

The First Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase also proved the need of adopting actions that would urgently and effectively contribute to the defense and promotion of our national cinema as an expression of our identities.

With the above-mentioned premises as a basis and inspired in the encouraging results from the First Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase, we call on filmmakers and producers of Caribbean films and audiovisuals to participate on the Second Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase that in 2008 will be aimed at Caribbean Children and Adolescents.

This will be a celebration of fantasy, imagination, grace and beauty in which enlightening stories with an educational and revealing plot for our children and youngsters will also be screened.

The Showcase hopes to have children and adolescent audiences in the region share for the first time stories, songs, fables and animated films in various languages.

The Second Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase for Caribbean Children and Adolescents is a joint effort of the Cuban Institute of Film Art and Industry (ICAIC), the UNESCO Regional Offices for the Caribbean (Havana, Kingston and Port-au-Prince) and UNICEF representatives in Cuba and expects the collaboration of filmmakers and audiovisual professionals in the Caribbean, as well as the Ministries of Education, cultural institutions and intellectuals and artists in the countries in the region.

This initiative meets the objectives of the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (2005). It also acknowledges the rights of childhood and adolescence contained in the International Convention adopted by UNICEF in 1989 and intends to favor the production of diverse contents and their distribution through the media in order to promote exchange, mutual understanding and respect among the peoples in the region.

The Showcase program will be made up by a selection of fiction films and videos, documentaries and animated films by Caribbean creators, whether living in the Caribbean or abroad, targeted specifically for child and adolescent audiences. It will also include films by Caribbean children and adolescents.

An International Selection Committee made up by acknowledged filmmakers and specialists, together with representatives from UNICEF and UNESCO, will be established.

The Office of the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase, in ICAIC building in Havana, in coordination with its International Organization Committee, has been entrusted with the organization of this important event which will travel to Caribbean countries in 2008.

To guarantee the smooth development of the event, a Contact and Coordination Group will be set up in each of the countries the Showcase will visit; each of these groups, made up by filmmakers, educational and cultural institutions and representatives from UNICEF and UNESCO from the various countries, will send to the Showcase Office their proposals for titles by their own filmmakers.

With the purpose of contributing to coverage and rationalization of transportation and reproduction costs, films in the Second Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase for Caribbean Children and Adolescents will be sent in DVD format, subtitled in one of the three official languages in the event: English, French or Spanish.

Films chosen for the program will be translated and subtitled into the three official languages by the Office of the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase in coordination with ICAIC Subtitling Department.

The schedule and traveling map of the Showcase will follow suggestions by the institutions and contact and coordination groups in each country, depending on the dates that are best suited for the event.

Suggested and/or chosen works for the Showcase will become part of the Caribbean Video Library. The purposes behind the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase preclude the commercial use or exploitation of the works in it.

The Showcase Office will also request the collaboration of educational, cultural and governmental institutions in the countries it will visit for expenses in advertising and required technical logistics (movie house or hall, projection equipment and team), and for invitations to cultural personalities, academicians and media professionals who will highlight with their presence the importance of this approach to films and audiovisuals in the region, thus encouraging the attendance of general audiences to the screenings.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. The Second Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase for Caribbean Children and Adolescents will be made up by fiction films and videos, documentaries and animated films with children and adolescent audiences as their main recipients. Their authors will be nationals from Caribbean countries, although they may be living elsewhere.

2. The works suggested to the Showcase will be sent in DVD or DV CAM format and their list of dialogues.

3. The selection committee in each country (contact and coordination group) may send works in any of the above-mentioned categories to the Office of the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase, in its seat at the ICAIC building in Havana, Cuban Institute of Film Art and Industry (ICAIC), Calle 23 No. 1155 entre 10 y 12, El Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba. CP. 10400.

4. Filmmakers and producers interested in having their works sent to the Showcase may send them directly to the Office of the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase.

5. Works suggested should be at the Office of the Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase before March 30, 2009.

6. A Selection Committee will draw up the Showcase program; it will be protected by a legal paper establishing the commitment of the Coordinating Committees in each country and of the authors to prevent the commercial use or exploitation of the works.

7. The schedule, travel plan and other items in the Showcase will be announced after coordination and consultation with official institutions, contact and coordination groups of the various countries and other actors.

8. The costs of sending the copies, from the place of issue to the Showcase Office, will be covered by the senders of the films in each country. The copy will contain only the work registered in DVD or DV CAM. Also, whenever possible, the technical specifications of the film, press and advertising materials, stills, press kits, posters and trailers (DVD, DV CAM) may be included.

9. An attractive complement to the Showcase program would be having a filmmaker or a member of the International Organizing Committee accompany the screenings so an exchange can be established with the press and the audience. Transportation and accommodation expenses will be covered by the host country.

10. The screenings at the Second Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase for Caribbean Children and Adolescents will be held at the screening halls chosen to that effect. Also, special screenings in schools and other children and adolescent socializing areas may be held.

11 The Showcase Office will defray the cost of sending the films in the program to the various countries.

12. Works submitted for selection by the Showcase will comply with these Rules and Regulations. Authors of the selected works will authorize their screening exclusively for the purposes of this Second Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase.

For more information or consultations, please contact muestracaribe@icaic.cu

All mail on the Showcase must be sending to:

MUESTRA ITINERANTE DE CINE DEL CARIBE.

Dirección postal: Calle 23 Núm. 1155, entre 10 y 12, El Vedado, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba. CP 10400.
Teléfonos: (537) 55 28 59
                (537) 55 28 66.
Fax:          (537) 55 11 88
E-mail: muestracaribe@icaic.cu 

Rigoberto López
President
Caribbean Travelling Film Showcase

José Juan
Representative
UNICEF Regional Office

Herman Van Hooff
Director
UNESCO Regional Office for Culture

Omar González Jiménez
Président for ICAIC.

International Comité for Organisation :

1. Luis Alberto Notario Barrera- Coordinador-Cuba
2. Arnold Antonin- Haití
3. Norman de Palm- Curaçao
4. Alwin Bully Dominica
5. Frantz Voltaire Haití
6. Bruce Paddington Trinidad y Tobago
7. Angela Patterson Jamaica
8. Montserrat Martell UNESCO