The Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase opens in Belize tonight at the Bliss Center. The showcase features the movies and documentaries of 14 filmmakers from all over the Caribbean, including Cuba and the Dominican Republic. But while it sounds hoity-toity, local organizer Suzette Zayden says that in the 30 hours of filmed entertainment, there is something for everyone.
Suzette Zayden, Organizer
"The majority of the films are feature films. There's some romantic comedies, there's some serious drama, there are issues that deal with Aids, some movies deal with Aids, some movies deal with family situations.
It is all a matter of cultural identity Jules. How can you be looking at American films? Is it your reality? What are you seeing when you see those pictures about the murderers from Vermont and Maine and the Tarantino films and Pulp Fiction. Is that your reality? Is that the Belizean reality?
When we see films that show people looking like us, that talk about the same issues that affect us here in Belize, the idea is that they will encourage them to start to document our Belizean images and share it with the world and our stories are just as good as theirs, in fact we probably even have better."
Tickets for the festival are available at the Bliss Center. It is organized by UNESCO and the Cuban Institute of Art.
