Filmmakers make Belizean films
Although Belize has played host to several feature films in the past twenty-two years, the country has yet to develop a movie industry of its own. Recently, seven aspiring filmmakers gathered in San Ignacio hoping to take the first steps of a long journey that may one day change the way we see ourselves. News 5’s Brent Toombs reports.
“Camera… action! He looked at the camera twice. Come back!”
Brent Toombs, Reporting
The productions may not be on the same scale as The Dogs of War or The Mosquito Coast… but the process these young Belizeans are engaged in is filmmaking at it purest. The result of an introduction to filmmaking workshop facilitated by San Ignacio based independent documentary producer, Katia Paradis.
Katia Paradis, Producer, Yaha Films
“Participants had five days to learn the entire process of making a movie, which starts from writing a story, which we script writing; developing the images that go with the story, storyboarding; learning how to use a camera; how to use microphones; do casting, find actors, find location; shoot the movie, and then do the editing.”
But beyond learning basic production techniques, some of these first time moviemakers were surprised to discover the true reality of shooting a film…
Ali Tsang, Student filmmaker
“Getting in the process, you realize it is not all glitz and glamour; it’s actually hard work. The fieldwork is hard, the writing process is hard, the camera work is hard, the editing is hard–what else is hard. But overall, it’s not a walk in the park, but in the end it should be worth it.”
Katia Paradis
“I was so amazed…first, they were working hard, non-stop until two or three in the morning, developing ideas, sharing ideas, trying to improve their story, trying to find actors, find locations.”
“We didn’t have a lot of resources. We had no budget at all. And being able to find actors and people to help you… In the case of Sweet Naranjas they found support from their family and friends. The needed a dog, they found a dog, a van, a bicycle, a kid… when you only have three or four hours to find that, a process which normally takes weeks, it was interesting to see.”
And all that hard work recently paid off when the two short films produced at the workshop were screened at an international festival for independent film in Central America.
Katia Paradis
“The two short films were selected at ICARO festival, which is an audiovisual festival in Guatemala City. So the two films, Last Call and Sweet Naranjas, were presented in Guatemala City last week… People were impressed by the quality of the films for a first time project. And they wish we could increase our participation in festivals.”
That enthusiasm for the future of Belizean film is shared by the workshop participants as well.
Evan Casey, Student Filmmaker
“I believe that the knowledge gained from this workshop can be used in future creative ideas, and maybe one day we’ll have a feature film.”
Kimberly Vasquez, Student Filmmaker
“Definitely there is a future for film in Belize. The talent is there, the creativity is there, it just needs a little more effort and it will get done.”
Nigel Freeman: Student Filmmaker
“I would like to become one of the pioneers of the movie industry in Belize. I see myself creating concepts, not necessarily writing, my vocabulary ain’t that big, but creating concepts and direction and doing special effects.”
Luwani Cayetano: Student Filmmaker
“It will be hard, like everything. It will take a while, it will be a long process, but I think that somehow we will have a very good film industry. Everyone here at the workshop had good chemistry and we worked well. We had one goal, to create two great films. And I think that there are a lot of other Belizeans out there that if given the opportunity they could do it. So I think that once more people get involved that Belize definitely has the potential for a good filming industry.”
Katia Paradis
“Now with the advances in digital technology we can get extremely high quality projects without spending lots of money. So I think that for Belize the first step into filmmaking would be to start supporting creators. Give them access to funding, to grants, in order to get organised to start producing small projects, always small projects, but high quality projects. It’s possible. It wouldn’t have been possible five years ago, but now it is possible.”
Reporting for News 5, I am Brent Toombs.
Tomorrow night on News 5 we’ll present the two short films that were produced at the workshop, Sweet Naranjas and The Last Call. Also screened at the ICARO festival in Guatemala was the Belizean produced AIDS awareness drama, Choices, that enjoyed a successful run at the Princess Theatre earlier this year.
