From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Caribbean Artistes Among the World's Best, Says Tourism Chief
By CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution
Jun 16, 2011 - 5:49:57 PM
Frances Anne-Solomon of CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution addresses a packed Spike Lee Screening Room at the weekend.
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NEW YORK - The head of the Caribbean Tourism
Organization (CTO) declared his organization supports the arts because
Caribbean artistes are among the best in the world.
Hugh
Riley, the CTO's Secretary General, applauded the work of CaribbeanTales
Worldwide Distribution, producers of last weekend's New York Film
Showcase, for profiling the talent of the Caribbean and preserving the
region's story-telling culture.
Addressing the opening of the
CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase
last Saturday in Brooklyn, Riley explained his organization supports
the cultural industries because Caribbean's artistes, writers and
filmmakers are among the most skilled story tellers in the world.
"At CTO we focus a great deal of our time, energy and attention on
marketing the Caribbean as the world's premier warm weather tourism
destination ... we do it for the social and economic benefit of the
people of the Caribbean - (however) to truly benefit our citizens we
need to understand their stories and to tell them with power, persuasion
and passion," asserted Riley.
The tourism chief contended that
in today's era of social media and cutting edge telecommunications "if
you really want to move from conversation to persuasion, if you truly
want to move both the mind and the heart, no medium can match the
immersive experience we get when we sit in the dark (with) our mind and
body relaxed and (we are) focused on a film."
At the Spike Lee
Screening Room at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, patrons
viewed a number of Caribbean-produced trailers and shorts, along with
feature films "Calypso Dreams," arguably the best film ever made about
calypso, and the riveting documentary "Fire in Babylon", the inspiring
story of how a West Indies cricket side triumphed over its colonial
masters.
Joking that not all Caribbean films involved pirates, Riley described the well-attended showcase, a fitting closing act for
Caribbean Week in New York.
It was, he continued, "a chance to give expression to our values as
Caribbean people and tell the stories that we too often forget."
Hugh Riley of the Caribbean Tourism Organization addresses patrons at the CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase in Brooklyn.
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The showcase included a keynote address by Caribbean-American Mark
Walton, The Africa Channel's executive vice president of sponsorship and
corporate development, panel discussions featuring rising Caribbean
filmmakers and a live interview with the Mighty Sparrow conducted by
Trinidadian scholar and author Dr. Elizabeth Nunez.
CTWD, a member of the
BIM Ventures family of entrepreneurs, has hosted two film festivals in
Barbados, another in Canada, produced training workshops for filmmakers,
and now has more than 60 films in its catalog.
The
CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase
was supported by The Africa Channel, Barbados Tourism Authority, Bay
Gardens Resorts (Saint Lucia), Brammer's Subway of Brooklyn, Bullzii
Marketing, Caribbean Cookbook by Rita G. Springer, Caribbean Lifestyle
TV, Caribbean Tourism Organization, the Consulate General of Barbados in
New York, Caribbean International Network (CIN TV), Cockspur Rum,
Creatively Speaking, cynergy spa, Distribution Specialist Michelle
Materre, Falco Ink, Funsation4 Media, Great Huts Resort (Jamaica), OCEAN
Style Magazine, Spanish Court Hotel (Jamaica), Third World Newsreel,
Tribeca Film, and ZYNC TV.
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