Amateur Film-Makers Can Enter the JCDC’s Short-Film Competition

Are you a budding film-maker? Do you want to showcase your talent and creativity to the world?

If you answered “yes”, then you should enter the FiWi Short-Film Competition.

The brainchild of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), the competition is open to persons 13 to 90 years old.

Entrants are required to submit a one-page treatment for a three to five-minute film using one of the following Jamaican proverbs: ‘A nuh wan day monkey waan wife’; ‘Bull ole, dem tek plant and tie him’; ‘Igle jackass falla cane trash guh a poun’; ‘Every hoe have dem tick a bush’; ‘Tek time mash ants yuh fine im belly’; ‘Fiyah deh a musmus tail im tink a kool breeze’; and ‘Bucket guh well ebry day wan day di battam mus drap out’.

Persons should submit the treatments to drama@jcdc.gov.jm before July 30, while the closing submission date for the film is Sunday, August 27.

Drama and Theatre Development Specialist at the JCDC, Shaun Drysdale, told JIS News that the treatment should include a working title, the writer’s name and contact information, list of key characters and a synopsis of the story.

“We are not asking for too much of the writing of the treatment because our assumption is that the persons entering this competition are amateurs. This competition is for amateurs to unearth their skills of film-making,” he said.

He said that after the assessment of the treatments, individuals will be assigned mentors who will guide them through the process of creating the films.

“We will then assign persons to these mentors, and this is why we need the film treatments… to contact persons to say these are your mentors. If you haven’t entered a film treatment, we wouldn’t know that you are interested,” he added.

He said that the Competition will have two classes of entrants, youth ranging from ages 12 to 18 and adults 19 years and older.

Persons who are interested can contact the JCDC offices or email Mr. Drysdale at shaun.drysdale@jcdc.gov.jm. for more information.