thebahamasweekly.com - Award-Winning Bahamian Film PASSAGE to screen in Freeport

Entertainment
Award-Winning Bahamian Film PASSAGE to screen in Freeport
By Fusion IMC
May 15, 2014 - 10:54:54 PM

Kareem Mortimer is a Bahamian filmmaker from the island of Nassau. Over the past five years he has won more than 25 awards for his previous three film projects: the short film ‘Float’, the documentary ‘I am Not a Dummy’ and his first feature film ‘Children of God’ which aired on SHOWTIME. In January 2014, Cine Caribes listed him as one of the ‘5 Caribbean Filmmakers You Should Already Know’ and chose ‘Passage’ as one of the Best Caribbean films of 2013, the only short film to make the list.

FirstCare Medical Plan sponsors the public screening of the short film by Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas – Three-time award-winning film Passage, a short film by acclaimed filmmaker Kareem Mortimer will screen at Galleria 5, Mall Drive on Wednesday, May 21 at 7pm. The free public screening is sponsored by FirstCare Medical Plan.

Passage tells the story of a young woman and her brother fighting for survival while being smuggled into the United States on a fishing vessel. The film was featured in a showcase presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) entitled ‘Caribbean Calling.’ The showcase included four feature length films and five short films, all of which screened at this year’s TTFF where Mortimer’s Passage won best short film.

“FirstCare Medical Plan is proud to sponsor the screening of Passage in Grand Bahama. Human trafficking is a global issue and its affects are far reaching but they also hit very close to home,” stated FirstCare Medical Plan President Corinna Neely.

“We are proud to partner with Kareem and provide this unique opportunity that brings this issue to the forefront of our minds through film, with the hope of stimulating dialogue on how we can tackle this issue in our society.”

Passage was one of five film proposals chosen by the Commonwealth Foundation’s Commonwealth Shorts, beating out thousands of applicants from around the Commonwealth in 2012.

Premiering in Auckland, New Zealand in February 2013, the film has received critical acclaim in the festival circuit winning Director’s Choice at the Portland Maine Film Festival, Best Short Film at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival and an Open Category winner at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival Grand Bahama this year alone.

Passage also became the first Bahamian film to screen in Havana, Cuba at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in the festival’s 35 year history. High Commissioner H.E. Eldred Bethel also hosted a private screening of ‘Passage’ at Bahamas House in London this March.

The screening of Passage on May 21 is free of charge and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to RSVP at http://passagescreening. splashthat.com/