Local Film Industry Reeling in the Wake of His Murder

The Belize Audio Visual Industry Association, BAVIA, of which Matthiew Klinck was a founding board member, is tonight reeling from the murder of a colleague.  Klinck rose to prominence in the burgeoning local film industry with the feature film Curse of the Xtabai in 2012.  While the attention-grabbing movie did not win an award at the seventh annual Belize International Film Festival in 2012, all eyes were on Klinck for his uncanny ability to tell the story of the bewitched character entirely in Creole.  He would go on to produce an episode of a telenovela, shot in San Pedro and featuring diverse cast.  News Five spoke with Brent Toombs, an executive member of BAVIA about the tragic loss.

Brent Toombs

Brent Toombs, Belize Audio Visual Industry Association

“It’s really a shock for all of us in the industry, you know, the film and video industry in Belize is very small, as you know, you’re part of that industry and it’s a small number of us that work in this industry.  Matthiew came to Belize in 2011 and I believe I met him very, very soon after he came to Belize.  He’d only been in the country a few weeks and I remember the first time we met he told me had this idea that he wanted to make Belizean movies and not just little short films, he wanted to make feature films.  And he had these almost crazy ideas that he was going to be able to come in here with no script, no crew, no money, no contact and he was going to make films and that’s exactly what he did.  Within a few months of being in Belize he managed to get, you know, people excited and believing in his vision that it was possible to make feature films in Belize with really nothing more than just enthusiasm and passion for the craft.  So I think that’s Matthiew’s legacy, not just the film itself but the fact that he was able to get so many people excited about the art of filmmaking.  A lot of people that worked on both Curse of the Xtabai and the telenovela La Isla Bonita, you know, that was the first experience with making films, with acting, with being either in front or behind the cameras.  Those people now are excited and energized and want to do more of that and that’s where I think Matthiew was more passionate about, just trying to get people excited about filmmaking, sharing the talents that he had and really seeing a Belizean industry emerge or continue to get bigger and do more things like what he was doing here.”