The Black River Movie Competition (BRFF) is about to return in 2025 with an expanded deal with co-productions, movie distribution, and financing alternatives for Caribbean creatives. The 2-day occasion, scheduled for Friday, June 27 and Saturday, June 28 at Cloggy’s on the Seashore in Black River, St. Elizabeth, guarantees a vibrant lineup of movie screenings, panel discussions, masterclasses, networking classes, meals, refreshments, and musical leisure.
The 2025 theme, “Co-Productions and Movie Distribution,” goals to bridge Caribbean expertise with worldwide markets. This 12 months’s discussion board will welcome a formidable roster of business gamers together with Netflix’s Samad Davis and Cédric Pierre-Louis of Canal+ Worldwide. Extra audio system embody Jamaica’s Movie Commissioner Jackie Jackson, U.S. producers Angela White and Dolapo Erinkitola, South African media govt Wendy Parkies, British journey blogger Jetsetter Jackie, and Jamaican comic and content material creator Evy Royal.
Music will play a central position in the course of the weekend, with cultural icon Mutabaruka serving because the resident DJ on Friday evening, and stay performances from reggae artists Duane Stephenson and Bugle on Saturday.
“The Jamaica Vacationer Board is proud to assist the Black River Movie Competition, which showcases Jamaica’s wealthy storytelling traditions whereas bringing well-deserved consideration to the historic South Coast area,” mentioned Donovan White, Director of Tourism. “This 12 months’s deal with co-production and distribution positions Jamaica as a premier Caribbean movie vacation spot whereas advancing our technique of geographic diversification in tourism. By spotlighting St. Elizabeth’s genuine cultural experiences and gorgeous areas, the pageant creates priceless worldwide partnerships that may in the end showcase Jamaica to international audiences, inspiring travellers to discover our lovely island past the normal hotspots.”
The pageant, based by Dr. Ava Eagle Brown, is supported by the Jamaica Vacationer Board and the CHASE Fund. “It’s one factor to have a imaginative and prescient however to see it come to life with assist is one other factor. The assist from our important sponsors Jamaica Vacationer Board and CHASE Fund signifies robust perception within the bedrock of rural Jamaica with a transparent understanding that with workforce work, this business can actually transcend one individual’s imaginative and prescient and evolve into one thing that all the ecosystem can profit from,” mentioned Dr. Brown.
From a pool of 49 native and worldwide movie submissions, 15 tasks had been chosen to compete for prime prizes. The CHASE Fund, which dedicates 15% of its sources to arts and tradition, is among the many key supporters of the occasion.
“A vibrant native movie business can function a catalyst for improvement, offering alternatives for actors, administrators, producers, and technicians to showcase their expertise on the worldwide stage,” mentioned CHASE Fund CEO W. Billy Heaven. “This Black River Movie Competition is a good alternative to leverage the expertise of worldwide movie gamers who may help information the creativity of our native expertise… this occasion will present invaluable alternatives for studying and progress for future generations of filmmakers, educators, and fanatics.”
JAMPRO, by way of the Jamaica Movie Fee, has additionally thrown its assist behind BRFF. “The resounding success of BRFF’s first 12 months confirms what we’ve all the time recognized — Jamaican expertise, wherever it resides, belongs on the world stage,” mentioned JAMPRO President Shullette Cox. “We’re proud to champion initiatives like BRFF that promote cultural fairness and gasoline the expansion of our inventive economic system throughout the island.”
Jackie Jackson, Jamaica’s Movie Commissioner, added, “I wholeheartedly commend Dr. Ava Brown, Founding father of BRFF, for envisioning and constructing an important area in rural Jamaica the place filmmakers are usually not solely seen and heard, however actually valued. BRFF has swiftly emerged as a beacon of business trade, inventive discovery, and regional empowerment.”
The pageant weekend will conclude with a particular version of Unscripted Sundays on June 29, that includes a beachfront script studying carried out by Jamaican actors. The occasion will highlight unproduced native scripts in entrance of worldwide distributors, press, and creatives—closing out a weekend devoted to storytelling, business progress, and cultural celebration.
