Placencia to Host 10th Annual Belize International Film Festival

The tenth annual Belize International Film Festival is set to open with a bang in the next few weeks at the Ocean Club in Placencia. The festival is competitive and showcases innovative films with a focus on cultural diversity. It features high quality, unique productions from around the world in various genres that provide a glimpse into the lives of others through filmography. A record breaking one hundred and eleven films from thirty-eight countries were submitted this season. In the end, fifty films from twenty-three different countries made the cut. The Belizean films and music videos are highly anticipated during the screening at the festival. Film Director, Suzette Zayden, says that Belizean embassies abroad, helped to push the festival.

Suzette Zayden

Suzette Zayden, Director, Belize International Film Festival

“We were very happy to count on our Belizean embassies abroad, especially the Belize Embassy in Mexico to motivate other foreign embassies to nominate films this year. Due to their efforts primarily we were able to get about a hundred and eleven submissions from thirty-eight different countries in the world. We had a lot of work, a lot of films to watch. We spent, I would say, over a month trying to figure out which one of these films will make the cut. We ended up with fifty films from twenty-three different countries and in these categories. We have eight feature narratives that made the cut; we have ten feature documentaries; four short documentaries; ten short narratives and three TV dramatic series. The narratives, those are the full length featured films are called: Awaken from the U.S.A. and Belize; Elizabeth Ekadashi from India; Fiddle Sticks from Germany; Half of a Yellow Sun from Nigeria; Maconda from Austria; Naked Screen or La Pantaya Desnuda from Nicaragua; Revere or Espejisimo from Costa Rica and the Games Maker, El Inventor de Juegos from Argentina. The feature documentaries come from a variety of places as well. One Point Five Alive is a campaigning film for the Climate Change Center; it comes from Spain and Belize. Kongo Beat the Drum is from Jamaica and Israel; Deal With It is from the Netherlands/Aruba; Dreadlock Story is coming from the U.S.A.; Forward Ever is coming from Trinidad and Tobago; Gorba is coming from the Saharawi Republic; Maximon – Saint or Devil is coming from Guatemala; Pan, Our Music Odyssey is coming from Trinidad and Tobago; the Agreement is coming from Denmark and Poetry is an Island is coming from the Netherlands/Aruba. In the Short Documentary Category, we have Muchula, Hope for the Hawksbill; that’s coming from Gales Point, Belize.  Santa Cruz Del Islote is coming from U.S.A. and about an island in Colombia. Tengo Talento, Bailando on Corazon is coming from Cuba and Without Words is coming from Canada. Our short narratives, of which we have two from Belize, Her Beast is a short animation piece from Shelty Castillo. Home Invasion is coming from Australia. I had to do it is also from Belize; Pork Chops is coming from Mexico; Ramona is coming from Mexico; Recuarda Esto is coming from Mexico; Soft Spot and the Contreras Family…these are also shorts from the Mexico and the Letter and Ocean Maker from U.S.A.  The TV Dramatic series…we have three—two in competition—a story about Wendy from Trinidad and Tobago and La Isla Bonita also from Belize. And Mad Dogs which is not in competition, but a film that talks about Belize; that’s based in Belize.”