Nevis hosts first International Film Festival

The Community Cohesion Foundation in partnership with The Nevis Cultural Development Foundation and Community Development (Nevis) will host the Nevis International First Feature Film Festival (NIF3). The festival will take place 3-8 May, 2009 at various locations around the island.

“We are very much looking forward to the film festival and the exposure we hope it will bring to the island as a cultural destination,” said Devon Liburd, marketing director for the Nevis Tourism Authority. “This festival will provide a unique opportunity for us to reach a diverse audience.”

NIF3 aims to be a leading competitive showcase of first feature films from around the world, with a particular focus on the Caribbean region and emphasis on the discovery of first film works by new talent and emerging filmmakers. Entries are already registered from Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.

“Of all of the exhausted clichés of the Caribbean, the most pervasive is in the sense that the sunshine can’t be serious and that profound thoughts shy away from the midday glare,” said Festival Director Petra Carvalho. “It is true that much of Caribbean culture has been imported from abroad, but the region is certainly creating its own, and we hope this festival will only enable that culture to thrive.”

A blue-ribbon panel of judges has been selected to review the films including well-known German Director Joachim von Vietingham, who will serve as the special advisor to NIF3 and act as chief judge at the festival. More than $30,000 (approx. £20,000) will be awarded in cash prizes for best regional feature, best regional documentary and best regional short, among others.

Packages and discounts are currently available at hotels around the island including:

Oualie Beach Hotel: Nevis Film Festival Special with rates starting at $185 (approx. £123) per night which includes breakfast and taxes. Booking window is now through 30 April for travel between 1-15 May. For reservations visit oualiebeach.com.

Nisbet Plantation Beach Club: The love is in the air package is available now through 31 May and offers guests with the ability to book a room for a minimum of five nights and receive a $300 (approx. £200) savings on airfare, as well as daily breakfast, afternoon tea on the Great House patio and dinner nightly at the Great House. To email reservations@nisbetplantation.com.

Hurricane Cove Bungalows is currently offering a 25 percent discount on all room rates. To book, visit hurricanecove.com.

Visit nevisfilmfestival.com for more information.

The island of Nevis is located in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies archipelago. This tiny jewel is just eight miles long and six miles wide, yet it has a natural beauty that is unparalleled. Lord Horatio Nelson used Nevis as a base of operations in the mid-1780s and married a Nevisian, Frances Nisbet in 1787. Nevis continued to be part of the British colonial holdings until 1983, at which time it gained independence, and still exhibits the British influence today, with traditional afternoon tea and driving on the left side of the road.

Its green foothills support tropical rainforests, secluded valleys, historic plantations and the remains of sugarcane fields while its turquoise waters lap palm-fringed beaches.

For more information about the island of Nevis, visit Nevisisland.com.