BARBADIAN FILMMAKER Damien Pinder has done it again.
For the third time in just over a year, another one of his productions has made the cut for overseas film festivals; again being the only film selected from Barbados.
This time, Pinder, who is the vice-president of the Barbados Film and Video Association, will screen his Homeless 24 later this month at the 2016 Festival de Cinema de Girona (Girona Film Festival) in Girona, Spain, but he will first make his mark at the RBC Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Programme in Trinidad.
For the latter, the 28-year-old is one of ten Caribbean filmmakers selected to take part and one of only nine from hundreds of entries selected for the Best International Documentary category for the Spanish film festival.
Homeless 24 stars Nicholas Waithe, who acted as a homeless man on the streets of Bridgetown for 24 hours as Pinder filmed and documented the ordeal. The endeavour was part of the Rotary Club of Barbados’ Project Faces Speak, which raised over $7 000.
This journey into international film festivals started in 2015 when Pinder’s short film Going Beyond, was selected for screening at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival in Canada where it had its North American premiere, as well as the 27-year-old Golden Diana International Film Festival in Austria where it made its European debut.
WEEKEND BUZZ recently interviewed the Nu Visual Media co-founder before his Trinidad leg of the trip and he was quite excited about the opportunities.
“It is a great feeling. Not just because of my individual achievement, but because I see it as a national achievement for Barbados to have representation at an almost three-decade old International Spanish Film Festival is a great achievement.
“This was a 100 per cent homegrown effort. I never studied overseas, or lived overseas, so this effort is a result of everything my country has afforded me and so I am extremely grateful.”
He continued: “I feel even more patriotic about this representation at the festival in Spain considering we are celebrating our 50th year of Independence and I think that it’s important for small countries like Barbados to continue to punch above their weight.”
While in Trinidad, Pinder and the other Filmmakers’ Immersion participants will get the opportunity to pitch a feature length film project in hopes of being the lucky participant to receive an injection of funding.
They will also get a chance to learn from international filmmakers in sharpening their storytelling skills and creative capabilities. (TSG)
