Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:10 AM
Feb 21, 2015 News
– As film festival deadline nears
The organizers of the Loyola Documentary Film Festival are hoping for further success and improved participation, particularly from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as the deadline for this year’s festival
draws nearer.
This is according to Coordinator Samanthani Singh who further told this newspaper that the organizers are hoping for more submissions this year.
This year’s festival was launched in July 2014 and Singh said that to date there had been no submissions. She explained that this was because it was still early. She said entrants would usually wait until the deadline was very close before making their submissions.
Singh said too, that a year was given to allow the entrants adequate time to research, film and edit their work.
For the 2014 festival, Singh said there were only a handful of submissions. She added that the figure was slightly lower than the judges would have wanted, but the quality of the works had been very impressive.
“Last year there were about 6 entries. We were hoping for at least 10 but what really mattered to us was that those ones were very well done,” Singh said. Five of the submissions had been in the amateur category while only one (1) had been submitted as professional work.
She expressed hope that this year’s festival will see the participation of some NGOs in sticking with the festival’s mandate to highlight social, economic and political issues which affect the Guyanese society. Further, she called on schools to become involved in the festival.
Singh also said that the organizers are providing services and advice to persons in the amateur category in terms of editing and composition.
Last year, some students from the University of Guyana made an impressive submission and Singh hopes that this year will see more work of a high caliber.
“The entry from UG was in the amateur category but it was very professionally done, so this year if they enter again it will be in the professional category,” she said.
Meanwhile, the judges for this year’s festival are yet to be selected. Last year, submissions were judged by a panel of multi-talented, well-known Guyanese: Francis Quamina Farrier, Margaret Lawrence and Kojo McPherson.
According to Singh, hundreds of thousands of dollars are up for grabs; in both the amateur and professional categories, the first place winner will be awarded $200,000 along with an award and a certificate. Second place winners will earn $100,000 and an award with a certificate while third place winners will be given awards and certificates.
Producers are considered amateur if they have some idea of film productions but had never made a production for public airing on television. Professionals, she said, must have at least a year experience in film or television production. Further, a submission may be done as an individual, an independent group or a corporate group.
The registration fee for amateur producers and professional producers are $5,000 and $7,000 respectively with a $2,000 late fee in each category. The official deadline is June 15, while the late deadline is June 30, Singh added.
The 2014 festival saw the Catholic Media Group partnering with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. Singh explained that the ministry came onboard and promised to set aside $1M each year to support the festival’s continuance.
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