A short film about a boy who wants to have his family picture taken by an old and grumpy photographer for his school assignment won the viewer’s choice award during the Asian and Middle Eastern Film Night of the fifth Gatffest Film Festival in Kingston, Jamaica on June 24.
Pipo with Maliksi Morales in the title role bested films from Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan in the said category of the festival. Chanel Latorre, Ramon Palencia, and Katherine play members of Pipo’s family, while Lou Veloso plays the role of the photographer.
Director Richard Legaspi was among the filmmakers from 28 countries who showed their works during the festival that vied for awards in 14 other categories including best directing, most original screenplay and best international film.
Gatffest, initially introduced in 2013 as the Greater August Town Film Festival and hailed as “the Carribean’s premier film festival,” was organized by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Centre for Tourism and Policy Research.
UWI CTPR Director and professor Ian Boxill pointed out that although there has been an increase in the number of Jamaican-produced films, several filmmakers still find it difficult to show their films in movie theaters and traditional media. Thus, he stressed that Gatffest remains relevant not only to local filmmakers but also to those from other countries who similarly want an outlet for securing an audience and screening their works.
With the theme “From the Streets to the Screen,” the film festival featured panel discussions, trainings and workshops in film and video production, and provided a venue for filmmakers to express themselves and to deal with issues in their respective communities.
Through the film, Legaspi raises concerns brought about by poverty and environment-related issues and also pays tribute to manual film cameras as well as all the photographers who people often fail to acknowledge for documenting precious moments in their lives.